Wyckoff's Christmas Tree Farm in Warren County has been recognized statewide and by the White House.
New Jersey ushered in the Christmas tree season at a Warren County farm on Monday.
State Secretary of Agriculture Douglas H. Fisher visited Wyckoff's Christmas Tree Farm off Route 519 in White Township and ceremoniously kicked off the "choose-and-cut" season.
Just outside of Belvidere, Wyckoff's won the 2015 New Jersey Christmas Tree Growers Association's annual tree contest with a Fraser fir. The ceremony traditionally is held at the grand champion farm.
The Wyckoffs have won the honor several times, and in 2013 became New Jersey's first tree farm to be named a national champion. They delivered several trees to the White House that year.
Wyckoffs present Christmas trees to first family
The 172-acre farm has more than 5,000 Christmas trees this season and has been owned by the Wyckoff family since 1839.
Fisher helped cut down a tree Monday which will be donated to the Christmas Trees for New Jersey Military Families campaign. Organized by Christmas tree growers, the state Department of Agriculture and the New Jersey Agricultural Society, the campaign aims to donate 100 trees that will be presented to New Jersey National Guard members Dec. 14 in Bordentown, N.J.
The Wyckoffs also host a Trees for Troops trailer drop, which will be held this coming Saturday and Sunday. It enables folks to donate trees to military families nationwide.
The Department of Agriculture says nearly 69,000 trees are cut in New Jersey each year. In 2012, New Jersey ranked seventh in the nation in the number of Christmas tree growers, with 809 farms growing more than 4,600 acres of evergreens.
Jim Deegan may be reached at jdeegan@lehighvalleylive.com. Follow him on Twitter @jim_deegan. Find lehighvalleylive on Facebook.