NEWLAND, NC. (WJHL) – The Trinity Tree Company at Avery Farms just across the North Carolina border has been supplying Christmas trees to the community for three generations, but Hurricane Helene’s floodwater took out nearly 80% of the farm’s crop.
Graham Avery, whose family has owned the property for six generations, said it has cost the farm millions of dollars.
“You can do simple math and, you know, we had 60 to 80 thousand trees that we’ve lost in there,” Avery said. “You know, 30 to 55-dollars wholesale. I mean, that’s it’s a tremendous amount of money. And it’s going to be a tremendous amount of money to strip all this land back down, to take the dirt and start all over. So it’s millions of dollars. And it’s, you know, it’s many years. So it’s just awful.”
Root rot and ground pollution mean the entire piece of land must be uprooted and replanted. It will take 10-15 years for the farm to get back to where it was.
“Even the ones that are still standing and they’re green, they’re dead. They’re going to have to go. Everything you see that has had water on it will be bulldozed. 80% of our farm is basically in the floodplain and it all got affected. It’s all going to have to be completely bulldozed. And we’ve got to start over. We’ve had four scientists, agricultural specialists, they’ve came out here and they’ve told us the same thing. That there’s nothing you can do, just going to have to salvage what you can this year. Then come springtime, just start bulldozing and tearing it all out.”
When asked if they would try to rebuild or if they had other plans for the land moving forward, Avery emphasized their commitment to bringing it back better than ever.
“My grandpa started this and that was his legacy. And man, he’s probably rolling over in his grave right now because, you know, it’s all gone. Everything he built in four or 5 hours of flooding is just destroyed. So even if it bankrupts us, we will strip it all down. This is what Avery Farms is known for. Their Christmas trees. And this is what we’re good at. This is what we know. And this is what we’re going to do.”
They will still sell the trees that are salvageable, but the farm said it will mostly be selling table top trees and wreaths this holiday season.