TIVERTON – Rhode Island’s Christmas tree farmers had a banner season despite the grim condition of the state’s economy, according to Eric Watne, president of the Rhode Island Christmas Tree Growers Association.

“I think despite the economy – and certainly, employment in Rhode Island isn’t great – people still seem to want to come out,” Watne told Providence Business News on Christmas Eve. “They’ve got a tradition of coming out and cutting down a live tree, and they still do that.”

Tree sales rose 10 to 15 percent compared with last year at Clark’s Tree Farm in Tiverton, which Watne and his wife, Catherine, have owned since 2003. “We had our best year,” he said. The couple sold just under 400 trees for $40 to $70 each.

“The whole process of buying a tree at a farm – it’s an event,” Watne said. “You can bring the family.”

Christmas tree farming in Rhode Island boomed in the 1960s and ’70s after the state enacted a tax incentive that allowed farmers to write off their growing expenses, which they could use to offset other income.

But the tax break ended in 1986, and over the next decade many farms shut down. The Christmas Tree Growers Association’s membership, which peaked in 1980, has since fallen by more than half.

Watne estimates that roughly 50 trees farms were operating this year. “Nobody’s getting into Christmas tree farming,” he said.

Tree-growing is labor intensive, time-consuming and not particularly profitable. Trees must be planted a decade before they are harvested, and then can only be sold for about a month. Prices have not kept up with costs.

Most farmers have day jobs – Watne works for Fannie Mae, and his wife sells real estate. The couple used to live in Newport, but decided to buy Clark’s in 2003 after it languished on the market for two years. “Now I feel it’s almost my social responsibility to keep it open,” he said.

The local Christmas tree farming community suffered a loss in July when its elder statesman, Horatio T. Chase Jr., owner of Greene Tree Farm in Coventry, died at the age of 87 after a tractor accident. He had planted his first tree in 1958 and was still selling them last year, although he stopped planting new trees in 2006.

“It was definitely a loss,” Watne said of Chase, who was active in local agriculture groups. “When I got into this business, there were a lot of guys like Horatio who were very helpful with sharing their knowledge. It’s not a competitive business.”

Greene Tree Farm is one of three still open in Rhode Island that trace their histories back to the late 1950s. The others are Henry’s Tree Farm in Cranston and Clark’s, which is named for Leo Clark, who retired after selling his farm to the Watnes but still lives down the street from them at the age of 92.

Noting the long lives of Chase and Clark, Watne quipped: “I hope it has something to do with Christmas tree growing.”

Additional information is available at richristmastrees.com.