Farmers issue Christmas tree warning after summer of extreme heat ruins crop

'Christmas tree growers all over the UK have suffered because of the drought' Isobel Williams and Simon Coyle Content editor | Head of search 17:04, 08 Nov 2026 Farmers have issued a warning to anyone thinking of buying a Christmas tree this year following the relentless summer heat.

‌ ‌ One couple said they have lost up to £80,000 after a late frost and the extremely hot weather has led to stunted growth and saplings dying. ‌ Ruth and James Wallis, who run a farm near Lewes, east Sussex, planted 20,000 trees two years ago and every single one has since died. The couple say they had tried putting fertiliser down, but without any rain the trees were unable to absorb it.

James, 53, said: "We spent a lot of money putting those trees in the ground and nurturing them for two years. It is going to make for a very gappy harvest going forward. Click here to get the biggest stories straight to your inbox in our Daily Newsletter ‌ “Seeing a lot of our young trees dying was quite painful.

It is something that we will get over, but it is a worry, especially with escalating prices. “Farmers are very resilient. We are just focusing on the trees we have got.” ‌ Ruth and James, who started planting Christmas trees in 2017, started to have some issues last year due to drought However, problems started when May's late frost killed all the new growth on the trees.

This means they can only sell trees at a standard grade rather than a premium grade – cutting £15 from each one. The farm was then hit by intense heatwaves and “extreme” drought conditions. ‌ Ruth and James don’t have an irrigation licence, so they were unable to water the trees to counter this.

The 20,000 new trees they had planted cost £1.50 a tree, adding up to £30,000 which they lost. ‌ Trees set to be harvested this year were also impacted, with their harvest down 30 per cent on what they anticipated. Ruth, 53, said: “The problem with Christmas trees is that they take about ten years to grow, so the problem will be about ten years down the line when those trees should be maturing and won’t be.

‌ “It will have a major impact on our Christmas tree income. It has hit us very badly. Christmas tree growers all over the UK have suffered because of the drought.

“It is worrying. We have invested heavily in Christmas trees and at the moment the plan is to continue down that line.” ‌ The farm managed to make a lot of hay in the summer which helped carry them over. Don't let an algorithm decide what Manchester news you see - click here to add the MEN as your preferred Google source ‌ Going forward, they are looking at water storage options to use water in a more efficient and effective way.

Ruth feels the government should be doing more to help struggling farmers such as putting forward grant funding for water storage. Article continues below She added: “Farming is in our blood, it is a way of life. It is what we do.

It has certainly made us think more carefully about how we will grow Christmas trees and what we need to do to protect them. “We believe that water is too precious a resource to put on what is a luxury item rather than a food source.”