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Kansas Christmas Tree Growers Recovering From Recent Droughts

Stephen Koranda
/
Kansas News Service
Celia Goering and Gov. Sam Brownback with the official Christmas tree for the governor's mansion.

Christmas trees are in short supply across the country, but growers in Kansas say they’ve mostly recovered from recent droughts.

Celia Goering, president of the Kansas Christmas Tree Growers Association, says a few years ago Kansas tree growers were struggling.

"This situation is looking wonderful now because we’ve had good rains in the last couple years, and that makes all the difference," she says. "The trees are growing. They’re beautiful."

She says the drought drove up costs for many tree growers, because they had to install irrigation systems. Other growers watered by hand.

Goering says there is a good supply of Kansas-grown trees, but sellers looking to import trees from other states may find a limited supply of certain species.

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Stephen Koranda is Statehouse reporter for Kansas Public Radio, a partner in the Kansas News Service. Follow him on Twitter @KPRKoranda.

To contact KMUW News or to send in a news tip, reach us at news@kmuw.org.

Stephen Koranda is the managing editor of the Kansas News Service, based at KCUR. He has nearly 20 years of experience in public media as a reporter and editor.