Not all Christmas trees grown in Wisconsin are sold here. Thousands are trucked out of state and about 80,000 are hauled each season to Canada, said Bob Dahl of the state Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection.

Lee Richardson, owner of Lee's Trees in Hayward, is in his first year of running a cut-your-own operation but has been selling trees near Sycamore, Ill., near DeKalb, for 16 years. Most of the trees he sells in Illinois come from a 30,000-tree farm in Wisconsin, about 15 miles north of Richland Center.

Richardson, a retired dentist from Glen Ellyn, Ill., cuts trees weekly in Richland County to restock his lot in Illinois.

"It's almost like cutting fresh flowers," Richardson said.

Ed Steigerwaldt, owner of Steigerwaldt Tree Farms in Tomahawk, ships about 10,000 trees to 14 states and Canada. This is his 33rd year with his own retail operation in Florida. This year, he also will have his own retail stand in Slidell, La., near New Orleans.

He uses refrigerated trucks to keep the trees as fresh as possible on the journeys. Prices, for the third straight season, will remain the same as last year.

"We're just not in a spot to be pressing prices upwards," Steigerwaldt said. "We're holding."