Schroeder: Christmas Tree Check-Off Still in the Works

By CnAgri2012-07-30 19:50:15 Print

State and national Christmas tree growers haven't given up on their quest to establish a commodity check-off assessment to help their industry promote 'real' Christmas trees. According to Paul Schroeder, a Wisconsin tree producer who serves a director for the National Christmas Tree Association, the approved program is still stalled at the USDA until after the November general election.

"The Secretary of Agriculture (Tom Vilsack) has assured us that it will be released for implementation sometime before the end of the year," Schroeder said. "This means that under the best circumstances, there will not be an assessment until the 2013 harvest."

The issue sent shockwaves over the cable news channels last fall when conservatives billed the check-off as a way for the White House to tax consumers who want to buy Christmas trees. Growers were quick to respond saying it's not so much a tax on buyers, but a check-off program for the industry to 'help themselves by charging themselves,' and not the end consumer. In the end, the Obama administration decided to stall the effort in order to silence the bad publicity the issue was bringing before the 2011 holiday season.

The proposed marketing order was first requested by the National Christmas Tree Association in 2009. Since then, it has gone through two industry wide comment periods, in which nearly 600 growers submitted comments about their feelings on the fund. The NCTA says more than 70-percent of the growers posting comments said they support the check-off, and nearly 90-percent of the state and multi-state associations were also in favor of the program.

The check-off is designed to benefit the industry and would be funded by the growers at a rate of 15 cents per tree sold. Like other commodity marketing orders, the Christmas tree check-off will be administered by an independent 12-member board of small business owners who grow and sell farm-grown Christmas trees and they will be responsible for developing and approving promotional and research efforts to benefit the entire industry.