New England Christmas Tree Farms are in Trouble

'Tis the season for Christmas trees and holiday cheer.  Friends and families head to tree farms all over New England to pick and cut down a live tree, put it on the top of the car and drive home.

Once back home the tree is hauled into the house and set up at the perfect spot, hopefully not too tall for the ceiling.  The rope is cut free, the branches fall, and the smell of evergreen wafts through the house as nostalgia fills the room.

Picking a real Christmas tree each year is a family tradition for so many New Englanders, but it's going to be a tough year.

It's not because there won't be enough trees to buy, it's what is happening to the harvest for the coming years.

The trees being harvested now were planted 10 or 15 years ago, or longer, according to cbsnews.com.  This means many of the trees being planted now are not going to be viable to grow for years to come without water.

The drought is a real problem for tree growers in New England, especially for family owned tree farms. Trees take 15-25 years to grow big and tall, so when a farm loses 25% of it's crop, that's 25% less to harvest in 20 years.

Last year farmers had the opposite problem as it was too wet, which didn't help when a portion of the trees died from over-watering.

CBSnews.com also reports one farm in Mendon, Massachusetts has lost 500 of the 2,700 trees it planted this year.  The ripple effect is for years to come.

Buy your tree early for best selection, as always.