JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. — Christmas is months away, but Wayne Ayers already has a Christmas tree. Actually, he has thousands of them.
Ayers, an owner and operator of Roan Valley Tree Farm, is a lifelong Christmas tree farmers. He digs, waters, and trims all year for just one harvest in mid-November.
Ayers and his family have been in the Christmas tree business for more than half a century. It started with his father -- a man whose unorthodox business took off.
"People thought my dad had gone crazy," Ayers said. "He started planting Christmas trees. They said all you got to do is go out in the field and cut you one...that first year they were begging for them."
The business made like a tree and grew. Even the White House's 1993 tree came from Ayers' farm. Even now, Ayers said Tennessee's governor gets a tree from his farm every year.
Johnson City's Roan Valley Tree Farm
But Ayers said the Christmas tree industry is changing rapidly.
While the farm has more than 25,000 trees, less than a third are ready to harvest. And that harvest is getting smaller.
“We’ll be harvesting about 7,000... We went from 32, 34,000 down to six, seven. Next year it’ll be even less. We’ve got some coming, but it’ll be a while," Ayers said.
So why has Ayers' harvest shrunk to less than a third of its former number? Like many farmers, he believes the legacy of the 2008 recession is to blame. He said he's seen many colleagues downsize and even go out of business.
“Due to the recession; drove a lot of folks out of business. They just, uh… they did what we did. They quit planting," Ayers said.
But in the Christmas tree business, it takes almost a decade to grow the product. Each tree takes 7 to 12 years to reach harvesting size.
“This is what keeps us alive, right here," Ayers said, gesturing at a tiny spruce that barely reached his knees. "I’ve got little trees that’ll be ready in four years. That one over there’ll be ready in six, seven years.”
Part of the reason, Ayers said, is that tree farming isn't easy. It's hard work — especially in the cold, unpredictable weather.
“Some people think that you go out and plant this thing, and go back seven years later to cut it and it’s ready to go. They’re badly mistaken!” he said, chuckling. “It’s a year-round job, except in the roughest part o’ the winter, when we can’t do outside work. But the harvest is a killer now. It’s always cold, and sometimes you get snow or rain, and… it makes it tough.”
But a visit to Roan Valley Tree Farm is about more than the tree. People can choose from pre-cut trees or cut their own, tour the rooted trees, and visit the farm's center: a 200-year-old barn that offers family-style food on the weekends. Visitors can also buy hot cider, hot chocolate and hay rides on the weekends.
For Ayers, the hardships of Christmas tree farming are worth it when families come to choose their trees.
"I love it," Ayers said. "I’ve done it so many years that it’s just part of life. I love to see the little children. They enjoy it. I have parents that brought their kids here, and the parent may have passed or may not be here, but them kids want one. And remember where they used to get them."
Ayers said the farm is a popular destination. He said people from all over Tennessee — including Knoxville and Nashville — visit the Johnson City farm each year to pick out their trees and enjoy the 65-year-old farm.
Roan Valley Tree Farm is located at 440 Okolona Rd. in Johnson City, Tennessee.
