Christmas trees falling victim to the drought - 13 WTHR Indianapolis

There's another victim of our extreme dry weather: the drought is killing Christmas trees.

For farmers, it's about the future. Newly-planted Christmas trees were nearly wiped out by the drought. That could eventually impact size, selection and price for families.

The holiday tradition for winter is taking a hit this summer.

Indiana Christmas tree farmers are witnessing a difficult sight, evergreens turning brown and dying from the drought.

"No matter how much water you put on that little dude, he's toast. See it's got a little green in it, but it's practically dead," explained Loren Schmierer, owner of Stoneycreek Farms in Noblesville.

The drought hasn't impact the trees we'll chop down this holiday season so much, but rather the young ones that represented Christmases yet to come.

Out of four-thousand saplings at Stoneycreek Farms, "we're lucky if we have several hundred that survived," Schmierer said.

White pines and Canaan firs were especially hard hit.

Even a few larger trees didn't make it, because they became vulnerable to disease in the dry weather.

"When it's either too wet or too dry, it stresses the tree then the fungus can enter and kill the tree," Schmierer said.

There are piles of dead trees at Stoneycreek and that farm's not alone.

"No, it's all the farms in Indiana," said Brian Hildebrand of Millbrook tree farm in Yorktown.

"We've had about 100 percent loss in this year's planted trees."

That costs farmers thousands of dollars, especially since they'll have to plant twice as many in the spring to make up for the losses.

While Stoneycreek says it won't raise prices for its trees, some farms might have to.

"Prices, if they go up, they should not go up very much," Hildebrand said. "If we would, it'd probably be maybe a dollar."

Again, there are plenty of large trees unaffected by the drought.

As for the price, though, that depends on the farm.

We asked tree farmers if the drought will cause a heightened fire hazard for Christmas trees in your home.

They tell us they won't, that the mature trees have gone dormant for the summer, and as long as you water once they're cut, they will not be more dangerous.