State Kicks Off ‘Choose And Cut’ Christmas Tree Season [AUDIO]

New Jersey's "choose and cut" Christmas tree selling season is officially underway.

Agriculture Secretary Doug Fisher traveled to White Township in Warren County to kick off the tree season by awarding the owners' of Wyckoff farm honors for the best Christmas tree in the State.

A Canaan Fir from Wyckoff's won the annual contest.

The Wyckoff family will be donating the cut tree to Trees For Troops, a charity program that donates real Christmas trees to service members and their families in New Jersey and throughout the world.

In addition, the family is donating 20 trees to NORWESCAP Family Success Center in Phillipsburg for distribution to local families in need.

Members of the New Jersey Christmas Tree Growers Association around the state are participating in Trees for Troops, as well as collecting money for Farmers Against Hunger, an organization that gleans and collects farmer-donated produce for emergency feeding operations in New Jersey.

Fisher says New Jersey farmers cut about 80,000 trees annually for holiday sale, a key component of Jersey agritourism.

He says, "Go out and really take advantage of these fabulous trees that are grown right here in our state. It is a sustainable industry."

Fisher says New Jersey farms are growing approximately six-thousand acres of Christmas trees.