Severe drought taking toll on trees at Christmas tree farm

MEQUON -- Southeastern Wisconsin is under a severe drought declaration, and that has farmers worried about how the lack of rain will affect their crops and livestock. Noffke Tree Farms Owner Kathy Gross said she's worried as well, regarding what kind of impact the lack of rain will have on her Christmas tree business.

Gross owns the Mequon Christmas tree farm and says a lot of preparation goes into getting ready for the holiday season.

"It's a full-time seasonal job.  It goes year around.  We go from planting to weed preventing, to shearing, to harvesting.  It's all year around for that Christmas tree," Gross said.

Gross says the drought has already taken a toll on her trees and she fears future lack of rainfall will only make things worse. Gross says the tree farm lost 100% of its seedlings they planted back in the spring due to the drought.

"We need a lot of rain. Every tree is threatened if we don't get rain soon. Not only did we lose the cost of the seedlings we planted this spring, we also invested in the labor which we lost, and we will never get any of that back," Gross said.

Gross says this year's weather is reminiscent of the drought in 1988.

"I think this year may be even worse, because it seems like it keeps going on. You almost want to cry because you don't know what else you can do. It's sad. It's really, really sad. It's a helpless feeling that you're weather-dependent and all you can do is hope," Gross said.

Gross said 50% of what's already brown will die without rainfall soon.

"It's just horrible. It's cracking and it's dry. It's just a matter of a few weeks if we don't get rain. Everything will be affected," Gross said.

Gross said they're trying to keep the weeds down through mowing, so the trees aren't competing with the weeds for moisture.

Related stories: