The seeds sowed in Dutchman Tree Farms’ nursery in mid-October will grow up to be the star harvest of Christmas 2032.

It takes 12 years to grow a 7- to 8-foot Christmas tree from seed, so planning and marketing are particularly crucial in this business.

Scott Powell, whose father-in-law, Steve VanderWeide, started the northern Michigan tree business with 40 acres in 1972, tries to predict demand and customer favorites. He oversees seed collection and propagation while managing nursery stock, as well as Christmas wreaths and greenery.

“You can’t just adapt to the market one year to the next,” Powell says, while noting that bad decisions now can have dire consequences later. That’s especially true when considering the volume produced at Dutchman Tree Farms, which will harvest nearly 900,000 Christmas trees this season and sell more than 600,000 wreaths.

The 10,000-acre farm has 9,000 acres planted to 16 different varieties of Christmas trees. “For every harvested tree, we are planting two,” Powell says.

One full-time scouter keeps an eye out for pests and disease. “But, we also have trained our fieldworkers to look for problems,” Powell adds.

Managing delivery

At the height of the season — mid-November to Thanksgiving — more than 180 trucks will ship out for delivery from the farm daily. In total, about 1,600 loads will carry product to more than 1,000 Christmas tree customers annually.

Powell’s brother, Andrew, a former Marine logistics officer, now manages the logistics of getting the desired trees to the right market on time.

Once the trees come off, they fill in with rye, oats, corn and hay. “We let the land rest, break up the cycle, work the soil and add amendments if we need to before we put trees back in the ground one to two years later,” Powell explains.

Three million plants are produced in the nursery each spring, and more than 1 million of them are planted at Dutchman Tree Farms.

“The thing I love seeing the most is in the second week of May when the seed you put in the ground in October finally pops through the soil,” Powell says. “It’s exciting to see germination and new life that could end up in the White House one day.” It’s a real possibility, as a Christmas tree from Dutchman Tree Farms had that distinction in 1984 when Ronald Reagan was in office.

The business that started by selling its own trees and other purchased trees at an Atlanta farmers market continued to grow in both retail and wholesale. It now focuses primarily on wholesale to big-box stores and garden centers, while the nursery stock supplies other farmers, conservation districts and reforestation projects. “We produce 60% of what is grown in the state, and 75% of our product is sold into big-box stores,” Powell says.

The business is based in Manton, Missaukee County, but it is growing trees in 10 northern Michigan counties. It also sells trees grown in containers and massive “dug” trees in burlap bags.

Municipalities, businesses and others buy large, cut trees for their holiday festivals and displays. “Part of our success is that we are so diversified and provide the customer with one-stop shopping to get what they want,” Powell says.

To add to the mix, there are a couple hundred head of beef cattle and a noted “obsession” with horses.

To make all this happen, Dutchman Tree Farms employs more than 500 workers, with the majority being seasonal, and about 50 year-round employees. It has a farm labor contracting division — Arlene Resource Management helps provide labor for other crops and farmers — and has been an early participant, since the 1990s, in the H2A program that allows migrant labor to legally enter the U.S.

Powell’s dad, Gary, manages the 30 housing units for those workers, which begin arriving in April. There’s a big influx in October, and most leave in early December.

Most of the business is wholesale, but they also offer "choose-and-cut" and fresh precut Christmas trees, tree stands, fresh garland and roping from the farm. “2020 was a rough year, and people are wanting to get out,” Powell says. “We have Santa and offer a family experience. … It’s about making a memory.”

Family operation

In late 1950s, trees started to be grown as crops. Before starting his own operation, “My father-in-law worked for Nick Helsel, who was one of about 10 growers throughout the U.S. who started — about at the same time — with the first rotation of Christmas trees,” Powell says.  “It was planting for a purpose, rather than going to the woods and cutting down trees.”

Steve VanderWeide and his wife, Debra, had six girls, and four of their sons-in-law are now in the business. In the 1980s, VanderWeide brought in his nephew Joel Hoekwater as a partner. Today, Hoekwater and one of the sons-in-law, Chris Maciborski, own the business, as Steve retired in 2005.

In addition to Powell, the other son-in-laws Justin Bartlett and Miguel Rivera — as well as all three of Hoekwater’s sons, Justin, Jonah and Jake — are serving in different divisions with defined responsibilities.

Powell left his job as a community college instructor in Petoskey to join the family-owned business in 2011, when a major expansion occurred with the purchase of Northern Pine Nursery and a wreath business out of Canada.

Since 2011, the farm has almost doubled its tree sales. The nursery has gone from 1 million trees when purchased to 3 million, and the wreath business has created new product offerings.

“I enjoyed being an instructor, but I also wanted a bigger challenge and the opportunity to work alongside friends and family,” Powell says.

The entire family lives within eight minutes of the main farm and now includes 40 of VanderWeide’s grandkids and 17 of Hoekwater’s.

Powell and his wife, Laura, have five kids ages six to 16.  “We want our kids involved, but beyond a laborer, it’s not a birthright,” he says. “They need to bring a skill set or complement an element of the business. The farm has to be a business first.”

To be successful, strong marketers of the farm and its products, Powell says the industry needs to be successful. “We are big champions of the Christmas Tree Promotion Board, a checkoff board that collects 15 cents a tree,” he says.

They also support research on their farm and the partnership they have with Michigan State University researchers and Extension.

Risks

Being a Christmas tree grower has not come without challenges, as the market ebbs and flows. “2008 was a recession, and several farmers closed or didn’t plant,” Powell explains. “It was a difficult time, but we kept planting to maintain a constant market presence.”

That decision, 12 years later, is paying off as the industry is undersupplied. “There was a good six years before much more was planted, so we anticipate strong demand now and in the near future. We are selling everything that we can without cutting into next year’s crop.”

Back in the 1980s, Scotch Pine was the favorite tree, and growers responded with mass plantings.

However, less than decade later, the Fraser fir started taking off, creating a glut on the market. “You could buy a Scotch for $1 a tree on the stump, and guys went bankrupt,” Powell says. “We managed to weather the storm and started growing other varieties the consumer wanted — more aromatic, stronger needle retention, firmer branches to hold ornaments. It was a lot that the firs offered.”

In reaction, Dutchman Tree Farms planted its first crop of 80,000 Fraser firs. “We had a drought in the late 1980s, and we lost all of them,” Powell says. “Being held back a year with a hot, emerging market was a major setback.”

Now, irrigation is prevalent on the farm, and a center pivot is added nearly annually, covering another 160 acres each year. They also use some drip irrigation and travelers.

The future includes adding more acres, but Powell says, “Our mission is to grow the greatest crop, with the greatest people, for the greatest customers and for the greatest reason — the birth of Jesus Christ.”