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MASON - This week, the Michigan Department of Agriculture and Rural Development (MDARD) joined the Michigan Christmas Tree Association for a Trees for Troops event at Tannenbaum Farms. Employees from MDARD and the Michigan Department of Technology, Management and Budget (DTMB) who served in the U.S. Armed Forces participated in the event.

“MDARD was thrilled to support Trees for Troops and to give back to the hard-working men and women in military service who protect us every day,” said MDARD Director Tim Boring. ”Trees for Troops creates the perfect opportunity to give the gift of local agriculture – fresh, Michigan-grown Christmas trees – to our military members and their families.”

Trees for Troops, a program of the Christmas SPIRIT Foundation and corporate partner FedEx Freight, provides free, farm-grown Christmas trees to members of the U.S. Armed Forces and their families through donations, sponsorships, grants and the work of many volunteers. This year marks the 21st year of Trees for Troops, and trees are set to be delivered to military bases across the United States.

Owned and managed by Jason and Stacy Buher and their family, Tannenbaum Farms is a choose-and-cut Christmas Tree Farm where the Christmas tradition has been upheld for generations. The farm spans 180 acres and offers a variety of firs, spruce and pines that range between 6 feet and 14 feet tall, along with an assortment of wreaths and greenery, a Christmas shop and visits with Santa.

Member farms of the Michigan Christmas Tree Association have participated with the Trees for Troops program since it began in 2004. In addition to Tannenbaum Farms, there were two other tree pick-up locations for the program around the state this week: Dutchman Tree Farms in Manton and Wahmhoff Farms Nursery in Gobles. Collectively, Michigan farms donated roughly 1,000 trees to the program this year.

Governor Gretchen Whitmer proclaimed December as Michigan Christmas Tree Month to celebrate the many holiday traditions that center around the family Christmas tree. There are more than 500 Christmas tree farms on a combined 33,000 acres in Michigan, ranging from large wholesale farms to choose-and-cut farms and small farms with a few acres selling pre-cut trees.

Michigan grows and sells more than a dozen Christmas tree varieties on a wholesale level, which is more species than any other state. The most popular types of Christmas trees available in Michigan are Fraser fir, Scotch pine, Colorado blue spruce, Douglas fir, Concolor fir and Canaan fir. In addition to Christmas trees, the industry makes an additional $5 million in sales of wreaths, cut boughs, garlands and other fresh greenery products.