Why you might be a tourist this holiday season

Before you started buying holiday decorations, Christmas tree growers were seven years ahead of you — the average time it takes to grow a tree. 

To get beautiful foliage and good height, Christmas trees require year-round care, and to give buyers the full Christmas tree farm experience, growers must also be well versed in marketing and running a business.   

Purdue Extension, which embodies Purdue University’s commitment to share education and research across the state, helps growers succeed in Indiana’s agritourism industry and supports success from seed to sale. 

What is agritourism? 

Agritourism can be defined as farms that welcome visitors to engage in agriculture-related activities. Popular Indiana examples include picking pumpkins, touring wineries and visiting Christmas tree farms. 

Kyle Daniel, Extension nursery and landscape specialist, has noticed many growers making their farms into agritourism spots to respond to the public’s growing interest.  

A lot of the college students I teach will go out to an apple orchard on the weekend,” Daniel said. “When I was in college, I never would have even considered spending my weekend doing that. Agritourism has become a big part of business for a lot of growers.”  

Christmas tree farms have followed the same pattern, with an increasing number offering the chance to buy a real Christmas tree alongside non-agricultural products like ornaments and other seasonal decorations.  

Putting the “agri-” in agritourism 

The foundation for any agritourism spot is the product, whether that’s an unprocessed product like strawberries or a processed product like maple syrup. Christmas tree growers rely on the cold-hardy Scotch pine, white pine and Canaan fir to drive sales. Most farms grow multiple varieties to suit a wide range of tastes, like good needle retention, sturdy branches or fragrant smell. 

Once growers choose what to grow, they must maintain their crop, which requires decisions about irrigation and weed control. That’s when Daniel enters the conversation. 

Daniel has presented to the Indiana Christmas Tree Growers, where he shares best practices, like research on how applying herbicides at certain times can decrease production time. 

“Small trials on farms are impactful to growers. One nursery I was working with changed their herbicide application, and it led to better rows of trees,” Daniel said.  

Even though some factors like rainfall and temperature are out of growers’ control, access to the latest research can increase the odds of a good year and a good experience for customers. 

“If I can help a grower sell a tree one year faster, that can knock 20% off the production time and make room for new trees. It’s rewarding to help make a difference like that.” 

Making a farm a “must see” destination 

A good product is important, but often, other non-agri-activities bring people in the door. 

Extension viticulture specialist Miranda Purcell has seen this trend in the wine industry. 

“A lot of wineries have started doing a concert series or events like trivia, canvas painting, flower arranging or cookie decorating,” Purcell said. “They get people in the door with some sort of activity and give them a glass of wine to enjoy while they’re there. This type of scenario can even encourage people to try wine made from lesser-known varieties.” 

Christmas tree farms are innovating in similar ways. 

People want to go out, cut their own tree, drink hot chocolate and do other fun things. It adds value to the product,” Daniel said. “Doing that type of thing and getting out in nature is also beneficial for mental health.” 

Perhaps the biggest draw to agritourism like Christmas tree farms is the opportunity to make memories with loved ones. 

“Personally, my favorite thing is to watch my eight-year-old running around the trees trying to find the perfect one,” Daniel said with a smile. 

“Purdue Extension can give people the tools they need to make an agritourism operation thrive,” Purcell said. “We can provide with assistance on the agriculture side of things, the marketing side of things and the business side of things. It takes some work, but we can help growers bring it all together.” 

To learn more about starting or growing your own agriculture business, save the date for the 2026 Indiana Horticulture and Small Farm Conference.