Capital Region Christmas tree farms deal with shortages

Add Christmas trees to the list of items facing shortages and higher prices this year.

Garth Ellms, the owner of Ellms Family Farm in Charlton, says it has less to do with supply chain issues and more to do with seeds produced following the 2008 recession.

"2009, 2010, they really started pulling back the seeds, seedlings. Three, four years later, still hard to get and we didn’t have the ability to grow as much. 2013-2014, takes us today, seven, eight years later when the trees are ready to harvest, and that’s what’s creating the shortage," said Ellms.

He boosted his tree supply with help of a farm in the Watertown-area, and is confident everyone who wants a tree will be able to get one.

Learn about how the shortage could affect hunger in an area community, by watching the video of Mark Mulholland’s story.