Business Digest.

Byline: The Register-Guard

CITY/REGION

State agency logs production of trees

Oregon last year produced about 8.3 million Christmas trees with a total value of $151 million, the state Department of Agriculture said Wednesday. That keeps Oregon's status as the nation's most prolific Christmas tree producer, the agency said.

Large plantations - those with at least 100 acres of Christmas trees - accounted for 81 percent of the value of all trees sold and 77 percent of the total number of trees sold in 2001, the agency found in its latest survey. Oregon has 50,970 acres of Christmas trees.

The survey found that the industry employed 9,166 workers and paid wages totalling $25 million, or about $2,700 per worker.

California accounted for 46 percent of all Oregon's Christmas tree sales in 2001, while other Western states took up 13 percent of all sales. Mexico took 9 percent of sales. Oregon trees were also shipped to Japan, Hong Kong, Singapore, Guam, Puerto Rico, Guatemala, Panama, and Costa Rica.

For more information, visit the agency's web site, www.oda.state.or.us.