Climate change could stunt the Christmas tree industry. Here's how N.S. growers are preparing

Christmas tree growers in Nova Scotia say they're already experiencing the impacts of climate change on their industry, and they're preparing for even more.

Balsam fir, the predominant species grown for Christmas trees in the province, require a series of frosts in the autumn to harden off and retain their needles long after they're cut.

But those fall frosts are becoming scarcer.

"We're lucky in here — we have a cold climate. However, we're seeing changes. Our falls are getting warmer," said Chrissy Trenholme, the assistant manager of the Northeastern Christmas Tree Association.

When Trenholme spoke with the CBC two days before Halloween, growers were about to start cutting trees to ship to U.S. markets. But with only about seven frosts in the Giants Lake area of Guysborough County where she is located, she was concerned about trees drying out before they arrived at their destinations.

"If someone purchases a tree fresh off a U-pick, they're pretty safe. But for us shipping out trees … after a month, they will start dropping their needles."

Growers are also concerned about how the changing climate could affect pests and diseases. Aphids, tussock moths, gypsy moths and gall midge can damage trees and may be affected by warming temperatures, Trenholme said.

"We're seeing new threats, new diseases coming in that don't die off in the winter because we're not having those cold climates."

The Christmas tree industry in Nova Scotia is big business. Last year, growers exported nearly 420,000 trees, with a value of over $9.4 million. About 89 per cent of those were sent to the U.S., with Panama a distant second at 8.4 per cent.

According to 2017 statistics, Nova Scotia was the second-biggest exporter of Christmas trees in Canada, behind Quebec.

The provincial Agriculture Department is hoping to help protect the industry from the effects of climate change. Staff have surveyed stakeholders to understand the impacts of climate change, and will be working with growers to develop adaptation strategies for the future.

But some farmers are already making changes.

Balsam fir makes up about 98 per cent of the trees at Shaun Scott's Christmas tree farm near Antigonish, N.S., but he is also growing Douglas fir, grand fir, noble fir, white pine, Scots pine, Fraser fir and Korean fir. 

"If the temperatures get extreme and our balsam fir, which is a boreal species and kind of a cold, northern-type species, if that starts to struggle, we would like to have another substitute to grow."