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Michigan Christmas tree growers to present national tree

The White House’s National Christmas Tree is being sent from Michigan for the first time in 40 years.

The National Christmas Tree Association has selected Rex and Jessica Korson as this year’s Grand Champions.

Executive director Rick Dungey tells Brownfield their competition is a tradition that spans nearly 60 years.

“You got to have a really, really good tree,” he says. “The people that win that contest, they are expert Christmas tree farmers, they really know what they’re doing.”

Growers must first win their state or regional competitions before the national contest, which includes an official committee and a popular voting process.

White House Superintendent of Grounds Dale Haney hand-picks a tree that’s at least 18.5 feet from the winner’s farm.

“This tree in the Blue Room will see probably at least 100,000 people, probably one of the most seen Christmas trees in the world,” he tells Brownfield.

Rex Korson says the last Michigan winner’s family is one of the farm’s nursery suppliers, and contest camaraderie runs deep.  

“It’s a pretty special part of our industry, it’s a brotherhood,” he shares.

The mammoth tree selected by the White House was from unsold stock from the last recession which Korson says has had the last decade to mature.

Sidney-based Korson Tree Farms supplies up to 45,000 Christmas trees to wholesalers across the Midwest.

The growers will present the tree to the First Lady on November 24^th.

The biennial contest awarded Silent Night Evergreens in Endeavor, Wisconsin as the 2026 grand champion.