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December's Featured Destination
Delp Christmas Tree Farm

Guessing the Nine Year Forecast !

“We have the best customers that any business can have,” said Tony Delp. “When folks are here, they are upbeat and positive. Singing and just having a great time.”

These great customers are one of the reasons that Tony and his wife Linda enjoy the business, the Delp Christmas Tree Farm, started by Tony’s father Cecil in 1959. The farm, located in St. John, Kansas, is believed to be one of the first, if not the first of its kind in the state.

Tony seems to really enjoy the Christmas tree business, but he says it is pretty tough trying to guess his sales nine years in advance:

“I’m trying to guess what kind of trees people will want to buy nine years from now, and how many trees they’ll buy,” he said. “Then I’ll estimate how many trees of each variety I will need to plant today in order to end up with the right number in nine years when the trees reach full growth.”

“Dad started with 17,500 scotch pines, which he planted each of the first two years. That’s about 10 acres. He had a cousin that cut trees out of the woods in Michigan, and that’s what gave him the idea,” Tony said. “There were ponderosas growing here in the shelter belts, so he figured it would work.”

Over the almost 50 years since the first trees were planted, the farm’s harvest has reflected the family’s needs and abilities. At one time, when Tony was on the farm full time with three teenage boys, they were raising as many 300,000 scotch pines on most of the 200 acres, plus nearly 30 acres of shade trees for landscaping. Today, the boys are raised and gone, and Tony maintains about 25 acres of trees, this year introducing a new field with a variety of firs and other specialty pines. The remainder of his farm is now kept in corn and wheat.

“We are opening the new field this year with several more varieties of trees,” said Tony. “We are growing Southwestern White Pine, Douglas Fir, Caanan Fir, White Fir, Concolor, Eastern White Pine, and Austrian Pine. We still have some Scotch Pine, but we are growing less of those. Most of the trees are choose and cut your own, but we also have pre-cuts, including some Frazier Firs that weren’t grown here.”

The Christmas Tree Farm Experience

The main attraction today is not only the tree, but also the experience. Families arrive together in great spirits, and are taken into the field on a tractor-drawn hayrack. Most families spend a good deal of time finding exactly the right tree. Tony has tagged the trees so the guests know what kind of tree it is, and how much it costs.

When the perfect tree is located, the guests cut it down themselves and haul it to the roadside. Staff will help as needed, and take the family and tree on the wagon back to the shaker. The shaker vibrates the dead and loose needles out of the tree and then the tree is netted for the ride home.

But practically no one leaves right away. Part of the fun of this day is spent by the fireplace in the main office, where guests are served free apple cider. There is also a large barrel of peanuts in the shell. Folks munch on the peanuts, while tossing the shells into the fire. A sound system carries holiday carols in and outside the building.

 

 

 

 

 

Linda sells wreaths, swags, tree stands, candy canes and a few ornaments, while serving as hostess for their friendly guests. They also sell flocked trees in a variety of colors, including purple, for K-State fans, or red and blue for Kansas University fans.

Life on the Tree Farm

Tony enjoys looking back over the long history of the tree farm.

“Those early years, when dad planted the first trees, we just did a lot of cultivating, keeping the weeds out, and depended on natural rainfall. Fortunately, the rains came the first few years, and we had a 90-95% survival rate. Since then, on other years, we’ve sometimes lost just as much to the drought.”

As boys, Tony and his brother Phil helped with the trees, and this work also became part of their 4-H projects. Eventually both boys went off to school, and neither came back to the farm for several years. Phil did get his degree in forestry, but now works in overseas construction, while Tony got a degree in mechanical engineer and worked as an engineer for several years.

In 1976 though, Tony came back to manage the farm. Tony and Linda raised 3 boys on the land, and with their help, he began to increase the size of the tree farm. Using “hand-move pipe” to irrigate the trees, and special machines to help with weeding, cultivation, and spraying, they expanded the farm to over 300,000 trees, covering about 200 acres of land. They sold several thousand trees wholesale each year.

The trees then were mostly scotch pines, and could be trimmed with a saje. The saje is a mechanical sickle blade about 8 -foot long. The operator wears the motor on his back, and can walk around the tree to quickly and evenly taper the tree from bottom to top. Usually the top was then trimmed by hand.

Cecil built an interesting machine to spray colorant on the trees. The water-based colorant helps offset a natural yellowing that pine trees undergo in the fall, and this coating also helps the trees hold some of their moisture. The machine is a tractor of sorts, with a 10-foot clearance. Cecil built it to insure that all trees were adequately covered--especially those that were very tall.

Today, many of the varieties do not require spraying, and of the others, most are shorter when harvested and can be hand-sprayed. Tony says that most of the trees in the new field are hand-trimmed, giving them a more realistic and natural look, and they have a circle watering system. Wholesale and retail combined, they now sell about 1,000 to 1,200 trees each year.

The Tree Farm Business

Tony, who was also a banker for about 15 years until he retired last year, said he has kept very close track of his expenses and income. Although there are some extenuating circumstances, he otherwise aims for a 5 to 10% return on gross sales, and estimates that’s what a tree farm might expect. The caution is to be very realistic about all of the expenses, and even more realistic about projected sales.

“A number of things should be capitalized costs, such as the planting costs and tree inventory,” he said. Tony said he does do a profit and loss spreadsheet on the business, and recommends a detailed business plan for those just starting a business which includes all the general overhead, the cost of the ground, and so forth.

“A cash flow is maybe even more critical, particularly if you a taking a draw for your personal expenses,” he said. “This lets you anticipate insurance premiums, pro-rate taxes, and all the other expenses that come up.”

His own liability insurance runs 5 to 7% of gross revenue. Insurance for the trees, as compared to crop insurance, is absolutely cost prohibitive, he said. There are just too many things that could go wrong—disease, insects, fire, hail, and so forth—so the premium is just too high.

“All in all, I’m confident that we get a better net return on an acre of trees as compared to an acre of corn,” Tony said. “But it’s pretty labor intensive. We’re happy doing just as much as we’re doing now.”

Tony said his pricing is comparable to other choose and cut tree farms in the state, but he really doesn’t compare his prices with those in the tree lots or discount centers.

“They aren’t selling the same thing,” he said. “We are selling a fresh tree, but more than that, we’re selling the whole experience…the hayride, finding the tree together as a family, cutting the tree and the kids tugging it up to the road, the cider and peanuts by the fireplace."

"It’s all part of the memories. I’ve got some customers that have come back every year since we first opened. It’s good to see them each year!”

Still, Tony is wondering what they’ll be looking for nine years from now.

For more information, visit www.delptreefarm.com