MASON, Mich. (AP) — A mid-Michigan farm reports the drought is responsible for killing many newly-planted Christmas trees.

Mel Koelling has been growing Christmas trees at Tannenbaum Farms in the Mason area for about 35 years. He tells WILX-TV (http://bit.ly/RiQio8 ) that older trees typically are more drought-resistant and are doing OK. But he says he's lost about 4,000 of the roughly 10,000 new Christmas trees.

Similar problems have been reported in Wisconsin.

It takes about 7 to 10 years to grow most standard-sized Christmas trees. So Koelling says he'll try to make up for losses by planting twice as many next year.

Koelling also is keeping an eye on the weather as summer continues. If drought conditions remain he says there could be more Christmas trees killed.

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Information from: WILX-TV, http://www.wilx.com or www.wilxtv.com