(Radio Iowa) – Many Christmas tree farms in Iowa are seeing a drop in sales this year, largely due to repeated weekend snowstorms and bitter cold temperatures. Their prime season typically lasts just two-to-three weeks in late November and early December, with most of the sales happening the weekend after Thanksgiving. Brian Moulds manages Wapsie Pines Christmas Tree Farm in Bremer County. “It’s almost sad,” Moulds says, “because you do all this work for a whole year, and it’s almost all done in less than two weeks.” Moulds says sales were higher than normal on Black Friday but they’ve mostly been below average since then. He estimates the farm’s gross sales are roughly 10 percent less this year compared to last year.

Joe Heintz, manager of Strautman Tree Farm in Story County, says most of their revenue is generated by customers who drive through their farm, choose a tree, and cut it down to take home. “So it was a unique season,” Heintz says, as ten inches of snow forced them to close their fields the weekend after Thanksgiving. “And those are our some of our busiest days of our season,” he says. “So, tree sales numbers this year were obviously down compared to previous years.”

Still, Heintz says tree farmers plan six to seven years ahead, so harvesting fewer trees this year helps bump up their supply for future seasons.