BUNCOMBE (WSIL)---Picking a Christmas tree can be a fun, once a year tradition for the whole family.
But for the farmers, each tree was years in the making.
"The trees that we grow, you know, on the farm, it takes 5 to 10 years to grow a tree that's ready to be marketed. So the trees that we're growing were planted easily ten years ago," said Allen Tree Farm lot manager, Nick James.
For those trees, you probably won't see much of a difference when it comes to prices this year.
But trees that are not able to grow in southern Illinois could cost more than you'd expect .
"The fir trees that we have to ship in because of getting trucking, and paying for trucking, and then the people that are cutting them, they're labor issues, we've seen a drastic increase in prices this year and unfortunately, had to pass that on to the customer," said James.
James said depending on the tree, it could cost almost double what fir trees brought last year.
"Like the nine to ten foot fir trees have really gone up. Our six to eights aren't as bad but they've increased significantly," James added.
And if you're still wanting to get a real Christmas Tree, you might want to go soon.
Allen Farm saw many people come last year, and they ended up closing the season early.
This year, they expect a similar turn out as people are excited to get out and do normal traditions during the pandemic.
"More people are coming earlier because they think they're gonna miss out on it. So I think we'll be really busy at the beginning and hopefully be done early," said James.
Allen Farm is open this weekend, and you can pick out a tree and tag it.
Then you can pick it up after next weekend.
