Each holiday season, millions of households across the U.S. bring home a real Christmas tree. This tradition, which dates back to the mid-1800s, has a surprisingly complex economic footprint, primarily because of the way Christmas trees are bought and sold. While most Christmas trees are purchased at big box stores and other retailers, some are “harvested” by customers at tree farms or nurseries.
Modeling the economic impact of Christmas trees in IMPLAN isn’t as simple as entering a dollar amount. First, you need to decide what part of the process you’re analyzing – the growing side, wholesale distribution, or retail sales. That choice determines which IMPLAN Industry code to select and whether Margins come into play.
TREE FARMS
If the analysis focuses on the farm—the planting, maintenance, and harvesting of trees—we’re modeling agricultural production. In IMPLAN, that activity falls under Industry 6: Greenhouse, nursery, and floriculture production, which we found by searching for “Christmas tree” in the NAICS to IMPLAN Industry Search. This is where we capture the value of production at the farm level.
Because we know the commodity that is being purchased (a Christmas tree), a Commodity Output event is most appropriate. If a cut-your-own tree farm charges no retail markup and only for the tree itself, we should still select Commodity 3006: Greenhouse, nursery, and floriculture products , and enter the event value in Producer Prices with no margins applied.
Producer Prices reflect the value before any retail markup or wholesale services. This setup captures the economic activity tied to production—land, labor, and inputs—without pulling in value chain components like transportation and retail/wholesale services.
Modeling Farms
We’ll use the following workflow for modeling a tree farm scenario:
- Commodity Output Event
- Commodity 3006 - Greenhouse, nursery, and floriculture products
- Margins = Producer Price
- Local Purchase Percentage = 100%
This setup is appropriate because we’re treating the farm’s output as production, not retail, so we use Producer Price with no margins. We also assume every tree was grown locally (on the farm), so we set the Local Purchase Percentage (LPP) to 100%, ensuring the impact stays in the region.
WHOLESALERS
Wholesale operations tell a different story. Wholesalers buy non-locally produced trees from farms and resell them to retailers, often handling logistics and aggregation. In IMPLAN, that activity belongs in Industry 383: Wholesale – Other nondurable goods merchant wholesalers.
Let’s assume that the Christmas trees were produced outside of the Region, but were sold by a local wholesaler. Since the only economic activity happening inside the Region is the wholesale portion of the value chain, it is appropriate to use an Industry Output event, selecting Industry 383: Wholesale - Other nondurable goods and merchant wholesalers.
In this case, we’ll apply Purchaser Price margins, as we are reflecting the price that the wholesalers paid for the Christmas tree. Margins matter because the purchaser price includes more than the tree; it includes wholesale services and transportation. IMPLAN will split the spending across producer value (the tree commodity), wholesale services, and transportation, so each piece flows to the right industry.
Modeling Wholesale
Below is the workflow for modeling wholesale tree sales. Because Christmas tree production is concentrated in just a few states, we’re assuming that the wholesale trees in this scenario were not produced locally.
- Industry Output Event
- Industry 383 - Wholesale - Other nondurable goods wholesalers
- Margins = Purchaser Price
- LPP is Not Applicable
This workflow is appropriate because wholesale activity is about distribution, not production. We use Purchaser Price so IMPLAN can apply margins and allocate spending across producer value, wholesale services, and transportation. Since the trees weren’t grown locally, Local Purchase Percentage doesn’t apply to the producer component.
RETAILERS
Retail sales—whether at a choose-and-cut farm, a seasonal lot, or a home improvement store—are modeled differently.. Let’s assume that the Christmas trees are produced outside of the Region, but they are sold to consumers at a local garden store. In this scenario, the only economic activity stemming from the Christmas tree sales is due to the Retail component of the value chain. Therefore, we should utilize Industry 388: Building material and garden equipment and supplies stores. We’ll apply Purchaser Price margins in this Industry, as you are reflecting the final price that the consumers paid for the Christmas tree.
IMPLAN will allocate the producer share back to agriculture and credit retail services separately. This is what turns a single sale into a multi-industry impact reflecting actual economic activity.
Modeling Retail
Below is the workflow for modeling retail tree sales. We’re again assuming that retail trees in this scenario are not grown locally.
- Industry Output Event
- Industry 388 - Retail - Building material and garden equipment and supplies stores
- Margins = Purchaser Price
- LPP is Not Applicable
This setup is appropriate because retail sales happen at the consumer level, so we use Purchaser Price with margins to capture the full supply chain (producer value, wholesale services, retail services, and transportation). Since the trees weren’t grown locally, LPP doesn’t apply to the producer component.
SUMMARY
Christmas trees are a great teaching example because they blur the line between production and retail. A cut-your-own tree farm might look like retail to the customer, but if the farm charges only for the tree itself, it’s still agricultural production.
The approach then becomes straightforward: For farm production, enter event values in Producer Prices, applying no margins. For retail and wholesale where the Commodities are not produced locally, enter event values in Purchaser Prices with margins applied. Margins tell IMPLAN how to break down spending across the value chain, ensuring the model doesn’t overstate agricultural activities or miss retail and wholesale services.
By separating activities and applying the correct margins, your results will reflect the real flow of dollars – from trees grown in a field to the living rooms where they stand on Christmas morning. Christmas trees are more than a seasonal commodity; they’re a perfect case study for understanding how to model complex value chains in IMPLAN.
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NAICS to IMPLAN Industry Search
Written December 22, 2025