Hey phil, this really keeps me up at night too. Our major ROI is our wreath classes/ workshops. Those allow us to make 1 major upgrade per season. Our field trees are still a couple years out. We are still sitting on about 25% of our wholesale order. Hopefully we sell those this weekend. Good luck from us @ Schrader Tree Farm
@@WoodsTreeFarmI think we scheduled about 120 students & still adding a few more. It does make for a long season my wife & I rotate class nights so we don’t get burnt out
Look into hydrosol production if you have lots of leftover trees. 1KG of finely chipped fir makes 1 Liter of hydrosol which sells between $20-$100 per liter depending on wholesale vs retail and bottle sizing.
Phil, I know I have posted some slightly negative comments before but it's only because I like what you are doing. I don't know anything about the market you are selling in but I would like to offer you a couple comments based on my days working a retail lot (while working a farm that was too young for harvest). First: staking pre-cut trees is very much worth the small amount of labor it takes. We sold 2,000+ trees on a relatively small lot in a big city for decades. We staked about 300. It only takes a few hours to put 300 stakes in the ground. We used 3/4" steel bars about 6' long driven 2' deep. Staking the tree and tying it makes the tree look like it is growing and protects it from the damage of people pulling it out and putting it back. That adds dollars. We rented our lot so we had to pull stakes every year. You have an advantage of owning the land so you would only need to install the stakes once. Second: You said you have already "paid the bills" in so many words. With 20 days left that means everything is now mostly profit. One last thing I will throw in is related to the firewood bundles you sell. When we had down time on the tree lot we would bundle up tree branches that we trimmed as we trimmed trees before putting them on display. Many people like them for many reasons. It takes little effort and 40 years ago we got five dollars a bundle for them. Just an idea. Best wishes for a great season!
@@WoodsTreeFarm Just trying to pass on some ideas that worked well at one time. I don't see how they would not help today. If you would rather I stop making comments, just tell me. I will go away. As I said, I like what you are doing - what I once did and miss.
Phil I felt your pain last year. After 27 years in business, we ended up burning a lot of trees. This years I cut back in response to the market demand. Something to just consider. We have lowered our prices after the second weekend on the Frasers from $14 a foot to $12 a foot. Plus flocking is a real profit area for us. Just some thoughts and not necessarily suggestions as you know what you have to do on your farm.
We've never tried flocking, and never had anyone ask for it either, so I don't know what to expect if we tried it. The last couple years we do a promo of some sort for the 2nd or 3rd weekend. This weekend we're partnering with a local non-profit to do a coat drive. Bringing a donation gets $5 off a tree or wreath purchase and we're giving $5 to the non-profit for each tree purchased. I like this kind of promo rather than discounting. We've also donated trees to churches and other groups so we can write down the retail value.
@@WoodsTreeFarm Flocking isn't worth the cost. It is labor intensive and there is the cost of the machinery and materials. We did it for a while back when it was very popular. It still cost more than it was worth so we dropped it.
Awesome wood rack and smart on the parking stops. Cheap and it someone runs one over low cost repairs. Smart man. Looking great. You've come a long way. 👍🪵🌲 Don't forget to fill those loss trees in spring for that turnover. Lol I know you know it. Lol beautiful. Hoping you have a record season . What do you do with the left over trees? Mulch? In the pond for fish habitat? Awesome set up with all the photo ops.any thoughts on weekday hours? Or extending until Christmas eve weekend?
Hoping for a big weekend for you (and us too) this weekend! You setup looks great!
Thanks! Best of luck the rest of this season!
Hey phil, this really keeps me up at night too. Our major ROI is our wreath classes/ workshops. Those allow us to make 1 major upgrade per season. Our field trees are still a couple years out. We are still sitting on about 25% of our wholesale order. Hopefully we sell those this weekend. Good luck from us @ Schrader Tree Farm
Yes wreath classes are very good. We're doing 9 classes this year.
@@WoodsTreeFarmI think we scheduled about 120 students & still adding a few more. It does make for a long season my wife & I rotate class nights so we don’t get burnt out
Nice vid Phil. Hoping the next couple weekends have you stressing about running out of inventory. Take care.
Look into hydrosol production if you have lots of leftover trees. 1KG of finely chipped fir makes 1 Liter of hydrosol which sells between $20-$100 per liter depending on wholesale vs retail and bottle sizing.
Hello Phil, peers you’ve done a very good job of layout and presentation👍🇺🇸
“Keep on Keeping on!” Tim in northern TN
Brought the family by Saturday and picked up our tree. Enjoyed our time there. We will be back!
I realized after you left who you were. Sorry! It's tough to make all the connections on busy days. I appreciate you coming back out!
@ no worries! We all have a lot going on.
Your place looks great Phil! Pumpkin sales are the same way- the amount we sell vary year to year.
I hope you have a great season selling trees
No idea if this is possible in any way, but would it be realistic to plant a couple acres of pumpkins and open the farm in October as well?
I feel like there's a lot of competition for pumpkins in our area. We did sunflowers in Sept this year and that went pretty well.
Phil, I know I have posted some slightly negative comments before but it's only because I like what you are doing. I don't know anything about the market you are selling in but I would like to offer you a couple comments based on my days working a retail lot (while working a farm that was too young for harvest). First: staking pre-cut trees is very much worth the small amount of labor it takes. We sold 2,000+ trees on a relatively small lot in a big city for decades. We staked about 300. It only takes a few hours to put 300 stakes in the ground. We used 3/4" steel bars about 6' long driven 2' deep. Staking the tree and tying it makes the tree look like it is growing and protects it from the damage of people pulling it out and putting it back. That adds dollars. We rented our lot so we had to pull stakes every year. You have an advantage of owning the land so you would only need to install the stakes once. Second: You said you have already "paid the bills" in so many words. With 20 days left that means everything is now mostly profit. One last thing I will throw in is related to the firewood bundles you sell. When we had down time on the tree lot we would bundle up tree branches that we trimmed as we trimmed trees before putting them on display. Many people like them for many reasons. It takes little effort and 40 years ago we got five dollars a bundle for them. Just an idea. Best wishes for a great season!
thanks for sharing your experience
@@WoodsTreeFarm Just trying to pass on some ideas that worked well at one time. I don't see how they would not help today. If you would rather I stop making comments, just tell me. I will go away. As I said, I like what you are doing - what I once did and miss.
Phil I felt your pain last year. After 27 years in business, we ended up burning a lot of trees. This years I cut back in response to the market demand. Something to just consider. We have lowered our prices after the second weekend on the Frasers from $14 a foot to $12 a foot. Plus flocking is a real profit area for us. Just some thoughts and not necessarily suggestions as you know what you have to do on your farm.
We've never tried flocking, and never had anyone ask for it either, so I don't know what to expect if we tried it. The last couple years we do a promo of some sort for the 2nd or 3rd weekend. This weekend we're partnering with a local non-profit to do a coat drive. Bringing a donation gets $5 off a tree or wreath purchase and we're giving $5 to the non-profit for each tree purchased. I like this kind of promo rather than discounting. We've also donated trees to churches and other groups so we can write down the retail value.
@@WoodsTreeFarm Flocking isn't worth the cost. It is labor intensive and there is the cost of the machinery and materials. We did it for a while back when it was very popular. It still cost more than it was worth so we dropped it.
Shoot phil what do you pay per tree for your wholesale? Hope tou dont have to eat any.
…also Phil I do boosted ads on Facebook, which I also share on my personal page.
Did your prices stay the same as previous years? Most indicators show most people are struggling financially.
Our most popular size #1 7-8ft went up $5 for the first time in 3 years. Our price increases are way less than the inflation rate.
Do you do hay rides
We do not
Awesome wood rack and smart on the parking stops. Cheap and it someone runs one over low cost repairs. Smart man. Looking great. You've come a long way. 👍🪵🌲 Don't forget to fill those loss trees in spring for that turnover. Lol I know you know it. Lol beautiful. Hoping you have a record season . What do you do with the left over trees? Mulch? In the pond for fish habitat? Awesome set up with all the photo ops.any thoughts on weekday hours? Or extending until Christmas eve weekend?