Can I find a Christmas tree crew that knows what they are doing?
Hello Rob here from the Flanagan Homestead and esport Christmas Tree Farms it's been a while since I've done Some Christmas tree videos it is Currently Sunday March 12th uh I just Got out of church and uh I'm meeting a Guy out at the Christmas tree farm today To talk about uh work on the Christmas Tree farm so over the years if you've Been following my channel we started our Tree farm approximately 20 years ago I Was much younger Barry and I did most of The work together and then our sons Helped us out a lot my four boys we're Great workers but I've got two sons that Are engaged moving on another one that's Married and living in Texas now and so The family workers isn't there and I Don't have as much energy and I have Other interests that I need to do so I Can't do all the work myself well Barry And I can't do all the work ourselves so Anyway I ran into a guy last summer who Owns a Christmas tree crew who runs a Christmas tree crew and I met him while I was shearing Christmas trees I asked Him if he was available to do more trees He said yes I asked him what the price Would be uh you know to do trees he goes Well I can't tell you that until I see Your farm and which is completely Appropriate you know I know that there's Trees that I could sear quite easily Because I already have a pretty good
Shape the tops are pretty good and he Said I I have to look at your farm see How many trees you are what kind of Shape they're in and then I can tell you How much I charge to Shear so obviously We're nowhere near shearing but uh in The next month or so we're going to be Doing herbicide he does do herbicide at Some point in time so I have no idea how Much uh he's charges for these things at This point in time but we're starting The conversation today he's supposed to Be meeting me here in eight minutes I Got moved back an hour because he didn't Know that today was Daylight Savings Time and he called me and said I'm off An hour so anyway he's gonna supposed to Be meeting me here a little bit we're Gonna go walk the fields he's gonna see What I have what I want done he's going To tell me what he can do and what it'll Cost and uh well we'll give you a report All right I've been waiting and waiting It's past time to meet him here I just Called the guy that was supposed to be Me here and no answer I tried calling Again he did answer he's off the freeway He's going to be getting here now but uh Sometimes that's the reality of the Situation when you want to meet people At the farm Don't always come right when you want I Should have brought some tools out here And uh poked away at some things but
I'm not in my dress clothes since I just Got out of church but he'll be here in a Few minutes we'll get going Hey Joe hi hello This is it all right so I got just got Done meeting with Pedro uh it was it's Always fun talking to someone else That's been in the Christmas tree Business it doesn't matter how long I've Been in there I can learn something from Anybody from other people that have been Doing it and one of the interesting Things that I learned that he does Differently is so he has besides having A crew he has a seven-man crew that he Works year round I'm like year round uh You know because once we ended with Harvest and I do fall planting we've Been you know since Christmas till now I Haven't really been doing anything uh Just sitting there waiting but uh he Does several wholesale farms and the Trees that he knows aren't going to sell This year because he's busy shearing Other trees he continues to Shear them Through the winter and he says he's Actually sharing Christmas trees right Now that did not get sheared last year He and I was like well aren't the Branches woodier and harder to get Through and he said ah it's about the Same so he could do it but they're going To get their shape on those last year's Shape just before everything buds out
This year and starts growing so that's Really interesting so he is doing Planting for some Farms this is a Planting time of year for a lot of People and he's all and when the crew Isn't busy They're shearing his farms and so he's Got sixty thousand of his own trees and He's got multiple places he's leasing Out in the area he's been doing this for About 30 years and so he has some good Experience we talked about how late to Wait and cut handles you know I I try to Cut a foot high handle and I wait till The tree is three feet high and he's Like oh it's a lot easier if you do it When it's only two feet tall and I agree It is a lot easier but I didn't want to Cut out full half the tree but he said It doesn't make a difference and Honestly my experience when I have done It it hasn't hurt it much so I'm Probably going to start cutting my Handles a little bit sooner So forget whatever I talked about oh Anyway he's he's gonna come out in a few Weeks here and he's going to spray the Herbicide for us he's got a tractor and He just charges for the labor on how Long it takes to do the field he says Typically it he charges about 40 I think It was forty dollars an acre to spray it And then obviously I need to pay for the Chemicals on shearing the Christmas
Trees he said because we have varying Heights you know we have some taller Ones here and then you can't see it on The camera right now but we've got some That are just planted and he's he said He'd sear everything but it would Average out to 30 cents a tree which Honestly I think will come out a pretty Fair price for me you know I'll definitely get my 30 cents worth on That tree when the trees yay tall and He's just trying to nip in a few tips I'm not getting my money's worth but uh Overall I I I Was roughly I haven't had time to do the Numbers but uh to check the numbers on What we paid out in labor last year for Having the trees here by Young men that I'm training myself in Their first year shares is probably Would come out to about the same price As having his crew his seven-man crew Come here and I've I've watched them Work he's like ah you know I've done This and you can Check the forms I've done I said no well I have I he don't know this but I stood Off on the road and watched your guys Work and uh I know you guys know what You're doing because I was watching you So Um I think Finance the total price might Be Better or about the same as what I've
Been paying to have high school guys and College age guys come out and help me Out but I'm training them and they're Not as precise and I think we're going To end up if we hire him paying about The same price and having a better Shaped tree I'm doing it so besides uh Negotiating price or finding out what He'd do for me and what price we just Started talking Christmas trees which Again I always enjoy talking Christmas Trees with anyone and uh he has his own Commercial lot in town that he runs Besides shipping some out of state Wholesale but he was talking about Baylor and how I I'm currently I'm not Bailing trees because I just one tree in The back of the truck it works but we May get one soon and he said well I'll Sell you one and I said well why are you Trying to get rid of it he goes well I've got seven balers and one is a Little bit slower and I agree with him That on a u-cut farm if it's not quite As fast It's not that big of a deal although you Don't want to waste time on any Farm but He said that the the one Baler he wants To sell is pretty good but he his crew Is only getting 600 trees a day through That one and the newer balers that he Bought his crew is getting 800 to 900 Trees a day failed and onto the truck so He said I got more than enough and
Actually it's it's parked about eight Miles from here so I'm probably gonna go Look at it sometime and see if we want To buy one of his balers and see how Well it's working Foreign [Applause] Just some more Christmas tree thoughts I Have the camera pointed down here Because he noticed as we walk through Here I had a lot of stumps and trees in The ground he goes what uh why didn't You plant any trees here uh you know he Doesn't want to waste any space because He's wholesale he wants to have all you Know every spot planted but I was Telling him that in the last few years We've planted more trees than we've ever Planted before and because we're a u-cut We want to have an even cycle and so we Ordered Making sure we didn't have any extra and We have a few rows that are still empty But you know we planted 3 000 a couple Years ago and a couple thousand this Last year and we want to average selling Per year about a thousand trees in the Future when this whole Farm is gets in a Nice cycle we're trying to create a nice Cycle so I told him you know I didn't Want we've planted so many of the Previous two years that we figured what We Harvest out the few couple hundred is All we're going to be able to sell this
Year because uh we're low on inventory We got a lot of smaller trees so we'll Replant those there'll be a few hundred Probably that die or spaces that we Missed and then we'll plant this so We'll we'll get and then we got some Grand first that we didn't have a chance To order last year so we'll get about a Thousand more trees in the ground this Coming year and then that'll help Balance out the cycle and remember the Trees don't all grow up at the exact Same height you know so if if you plant Trees One year a thousand trees one year and When you think they're all going to be Harvested you know maybe 300 would be Harvested one year 400 the next year and Then 300 if you're to sell a thousand Three hundred the next year a three year Span of getting to heightened maturity And ready to go is pretty calm and at Least on our Nobles some take even Longer some the the extreme a lot longer But uh But you know for the most there is a a General span that you'll get trees from So Those trees that are going there Hopefully the with the tons the Thousands of trees that we have planted Hopefully some of those are fast Growers Aren't already a little bit sooner and Then we'll trickle down from there
I don't know if I mentioned that uh when He said he did would do about 30 cents a Tree shearing he who said that doesn't Include handles handles would have to be Done by me or another price charged That's probably something I will just do Myself or hire some young men around Here to help do it's not as Technical And easy to do it is hard work as you Said the hardest work on the job and I've referenced before nobody in my Family likes doing the handles cutting Off the bottom foot of branches and Getting the trees ready to go Well it was good to talk Christmas trees With you again it's been a while since I Put a video out since Harvest was on Christmas trees specifically those of You that have a Baler and do it uh Wholesale how many trees can you bail on One bale or a day I was just curious Listening to what he said his crew was Doing on a Baler I wonder what the what The numbers would be and thanks for Joining me on the Flanagan Homestead Where Christmas trees are my business Teaching including Horticulture is my Job and outdoor projects are my passion Hope to see you again soon be blessed Everyone
