In order to learn about the Christmas tree industry and choose a tree for Vice President Kamala Harris, The Arrowhead’s editorial board and Souderton’s SAVE Club traveled to Bustard’s Christmas Trees’ Lehighton tree farm location.
On October 4, a bus loaded with 25 Souderton students made the hour-long trip to Lehighton.
The trip started with a tour of the farm, and an explanation of the company’s responsibilities and concern for the environment. “We are very proud of [our] commitment to the environment,” Co-owner Jay Bustard said. “We do our best to stay current with our methods.”
Bustard made a point of stressing the farm’s dedication to the environment throughout the trip, and spoke often of the different techniques the farm used to stay green.
“We love clover,” Bustard said. “It produces, if you had the whole field covered, around 40 to 60 pounds of nitrogen, so it gives us natural nitrogen for the trees to use. It’s also a pollinator for the bees.”
In addition to the environmental aspects of the farm, Bustard and the other speakers informed the group about the Christmas tree industry itself.
One of the main topics of discussion was the different types of trees that were planted and sold at the farm.
According to Bustard, one of the most important aspects of their industry is “experimentation,” with different types of crossbred trees.
“You can take some of the old and some of the new and put them together and get a better product,” Bustard said.
Penn State University horticulture professor Rick Bates also spoke to the group.
Bates spoke about a wide variety of topics, but touched several times on the different types of careers available in the agricultural field.
“[Potential jobs] might have to do with diagnostics, new product development systems, IT systems for bringing agriculture into the 21st Century using drone technology, to be able to grow what we want to grow smarter,” Bates said.
Bates stressed that many different career interests can be followed within the agricultural field.
“There’s an awful lot of marketing that is involved, and there is product development, education,” Bates said. “It’s really diverse. There are even newspapers that are strictly agricultural, like the Lancaster Farmer.”
As the group continued on their tour, they were met by Christmas tree farmer and tree breeder Beth Bossio.
Bossio addressed the topic of career paths, explaining her journey to her current position.
“I actually did not attend school for agriculture. I actually was a communications major but my mom married a Christmas tree farmer when I was 11 years old and we bonded over his Christmas tree,” Bossio said. “So I was always behind the scenes and I always helped the farm, but I didn’t become full-time until about two and a half years ago, and I found myself to be happier being out in nature and being a part of what Christmas tree farmers do.”
Bossio went on to explain what she does at her stepdad’s farm, and some of the struggles and aspects of the industry.
As the trip wrapped up, Bustard told the group that they would be choosing Vice President Kamala Harris’ Christmas tree from three options which had been chosen as finalists based on a set of criteria.