You’ve heard by now that the self-imposed growers’ fee of 15 cents per tree for those selling more than 500 trees has been, um, axed.
You’ve heard of the California Raisins, “where’s the beef,” “pork, the other white meat,” and “got milk.” Well, now you won’t hear a similar message from Christmas tree growers.
There wasn’t unanimity among growers. About two-thirds of the comments to the USDA supported it.
Some reports, including the one linked above, said Vermont’s association was against the fee, although both WMUR and the Brattleboro Reformer quoted officials in the NH/VT trade association who supported it. Most Vermont growers come in under the 500-tree cutoff, so would not have been affected.
Meanwhile:
Fresh tree sales declined from 37 million in 1991 to 31 million in 2007, according to the Agriculture Department … sales of artificial trees nearly doubled to 17.4 million between 2003 and 2007, according to McClatchy.
But, like I said at the start, the program has been shelved, largely because of Fox News making something up. Thanks for nothing, Fox. Now what do we do to support our Christmas tree growers?
thistownvt 