About Us

Daniken Tree Farm began in 1968 when Maurice and Betty Daniken, the founders, talked to the Illinois Conservation Department to find a suitable use for five acres of poor farm ground. The conservation advisor suggested Christmas Trees, commenting that there "might be some easy money in them".

David, Emma, Joey and Kate Daniken

Besides being wrong about the easy part, the rest, as they say, is history.

The Daniken's planted 500 trees that first year and haven't stopped to look back. Each year they planted a few more new trees until the yearly planting rate reached 5,000 trees per year in 1985. The senior Daniken's planted their last trees in the spring of 1995. Their son David and his wife Joey began concurrent plantings in 1994 and have since purchased the business in 2002.

The Daniken family belongs to several professional organizations including The National, Mid-America, and Illinois Christmas Tree Associations. Membership in these organizations allows them to exchange ideas with other growers and stay on the cutting edge of Christmas Tree production and marketing. David was elected as the vice president of the Illinois Christmas Tree Association in January, 2007 and the board of directors of Mid-America Christmas Tree Association in July, 2007. Joey became the executive administrator of Mid-America Christmas Tree Association in July, 2007 and was elected to the Illinois Christmas Tree Association Board of Directors in January, 2007.

In 1973, Daniken Tree Farm sold its first tree to Lois Kleiner of rural Greenville for $7.00. That first year was a little slow (131 trees the whole year) but business picked up fast in the following years as our reputation for quality and value spread. By the mid 80's, Daniken Tree Farm was selling thousands of trees every year and now repeatedly approaches 4,000 trees per year.

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