LINDALE (KYTX) - It may not be 100 degrees anymore, but the drought is still affecting East Texans - by way of their Christmas trees.
The main issue for most tree farms across the Lone Star state, is that the trees are much smaller.
The owners of the Trail Creek Farm in Smith County say, that's because the roots are too under-developed to soak up the minimal amount of water in the ground.
In the battle against the drought, it was the little guys, that took the hardest hit.
Trail Creek Farm owner Larry Hatch points to a small tree and says, "Normally this tree here would be about 4 and a half or 5 foot tall."
Now, it's a foot shorter.
The seedlings, planted just last January, didn't make it at all, and it caused the farm about a $24,000 loss.
Hatch says, "We plant about 1,200 to 1,500 a year, and we lost all of them this year. We maybe have about 4 or 5."
Even though the seedlings didn't survive the tough Texas drought, the bigger trees pulled through.
"On our bigger trees, once we got past the second year trees, nearly every tree did well," Hatch says.
He explains that the only effect on the big trees, is the size.
"We normally get a foot and a half to two feet a year. With the water we're just not getting, its about 6 inches of growth this year."
Judy Jiles shopped for Christmas trees with two of her kids, Abbey and Michael.
She says, "You can still find a very nice tree!"
Lucky for the Jiles family - they're looking for a big one.
"The kids are bigger so we're going to look for the biggest tree," Judy says.
Even though it's been a tough growing year, don't expect to pay too much more. The Hatch's say tree prices will pretty much be the same as last year.
Hatch says that goes for him and four other Tyler area tree farms.
"We're not trying to get rich," he says. "We just want enough to keep in operation. We love living off the land and what we make every year pays our bills, pays for our land."
They understand that the economy had hit people hard, and just want to keep the Christmas spirit alive.
Judy says, "We like coming out here for the nostalgia where the kids come out here and cut their own tree and drag the tree in, and we have to make a group decision on which one we're going to get."
She says it's not just about the tree, but the whole family experience.
Hatch says his phone has been ringing off the hook, with people calling to see if there are still good trees available.
He wants people to know the drought did make the year difficult, but that East Texas tree farms still have plenty of good trees.
While many of the tree prices are staying steady, the Christmas trees that are shipped to East Texas may be a little more expensive, simply because gas prices are high.
We are told the price for a Christmas tree runs about seven dollars a foot.
Those with the Trail Creek Farm hope they can at least make the $10,000 it will take to open the farm again next year.
