LANSING – Buying a Michigan-grown Christmas tree supports the state’s economy to the tune of more than $40 million a year.

“What better way to help Michiganders than to buy Michigan products,” said Don Koivisto, director of the Department of Agriculture.

Michigan ranks third in Christmas tree production behind Oregon and North Carolina, said Marsha Gray, the executive director of the Howell-based Michigan Christmas Tree Association.

Some association members are choose-and-cut tree farms where consumers can cut their own tree or buy a pre-cut tree.

Wexford, Missaukee and Oceana counties are the state’s top-three suppliers.

Tree farms may also offer hayrides, hot chocolate, bonfires, petting zoos, reindeer and even Santa Claus, Gray said.

Koivisto said the combination of selecting a tree and participating in events at a tree farm is an example of agricultural tourism.

Agricultural tourism is about making the purchase of produce an experience, Koivisto said.

Michigan harvests about three million trees each year, and about two-thirds of them are shipped outside the state, Gray said. About 42,000 acres are dedicated to commercial Christmas tree production.

“Climate is key in being able to grow Christmas trees,” Gray said. “A number of years ago, Michigan was the top Christmas tree producer when the Scotch pine was the most popular Christmas tree.”

Gray said growers diversified varieties to meet consumer needs. They include Scotch pine, blue spruce, white spruce, Fraser fir and Douglas fir.

“Michigan now offers more Christmas tree varieties on a wholesale level than any other state,” she said. “This is truly an advantage for our industry.”

Catherine Genovese, an owner of the Candy Cane CHRISTmas Tree Farm in Oxford, said there is a jovial atmosphere at her farm, which makes a nice beginning to the holiday season.

She and her husband run a choose-and-cut farm that also sells custom wreaths and garland, she said.

Genovese said people should buy a real tree and support the state’s economy, not the Chinese economy. More than half the artificial trees sold in the U.S. are manufactured in China.

Pascal Nzokou, an assistant professor of forestry and an expert in Christmas tree production at Michigan State University, said tree farmers are running a business that helps the environment and sustains the rural landscape.

Farmers maintain the trees for eight to 10 years depending on size, he said. A planted acre of land provides the daily amount of oxygen needed for 18 people, he added.

Nzokou said real trees are renewable resources that can be recycled for different uses, such as improving fish habitats, stabilizing river shorelines and landscaping. Artificial or plastic trees are non-biodegradable.