Growing christmas trees takes time – up to five years before they'RE ready to sell

Mississippi State University received a $526,664 Project Grant from the National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) under the Agriculture and Food Research Initiative (AFRI), CFDA 10.310, awarded September 30, 2025, with a completion date of September 29, 2028. The grant supports research and development of digital tools and informational guides to address two critical challenges facing Southeastern U.S. Christmas tree farmers: water stress management and fungicide overuse. The project delivers scientific studies on tree species performance under varied water conditions, along with digital decision-support tools to guide variety selection based on site-specific hydrology. Additionally, the project produces disease identification and risk assessment resources designed to reduce unnecessary fungicide applications, with a target of reducing fungicide expenditures by 20 percent from their current baseline of approximately 80 percent of annual operational budgets.

The University of Tennessee serves as a sub-grantee under this award, with its UT AG Research Division contributing to the disease identification and risk assessment objectives. This initiative addresses the Southeastern region's shortage of locally applicable research and management practices by providing Christmas tree growers with evidence-based tools tailored to regional climate and soil conditions, thereby improving farm efficiency, reducing environmental impact, and supporting agritourism and rural economies across the Southeast.

During that time, the trees can be damaged by bugs, diseases, and bad weather. In the southeastern US, farmers face extra challenges because there ISN't enough local research to guide them. They often have to rely on advice meant for other parts of the country, which doesn't always work well in the southeast's unique climate and soil. This can lead to wasted money, extra work, and harm to the environment. We are working to give christmas tree farmers better tools and information. We intend to make christmas tree farming more efficient, affordable, and sustainable by focusing on two main problems. (1) water stress. Many farmers lose trees because they plant types that DON't match their land's water conditions. We will conduct scientific studies on different tree types and create guides and digital tools to help farmers choose the right ones for their farms. (2) overuse of fungicides. Some farmers use chemicals to fight disease even when IT's not needed, which represents a significant cost in the overall budget. We will develop digital tools and informational guides to help farmers know when treatment is actually necessary. This project is special because unlike our crop commodities, there aren't many digital tools made just for christmas tree growers. When we support christmas tree farms, we support agritourism in local economies, limit loss of farmlands, and keep real christmas trees affordable for community members.