SUNBURY — Pennsylvania’s Christmas tree growers this year are already anticipating a holiday gift similar to the one they got last year — sales of about $13.9 million, and hordes of consumers interested in decorative items such as wreathes, roping and swags.

The tree-selling season in the Valley began in earnest Tuesday in Mifflinburg at the largest Christmas tree auction in the country, where more than 53,400 trees and accessories sold for about $1 million in less than 48 hours.

“That was a 10 to 15 percent increase over last year,” said Neil Courtney, head auctioneer and manager of Buffalo Valley Produce Auction. “I knew that decorative accessories were already selling well this fall. But I had no idea how things would turn out at this year’s Christmas tree auction. I can safely say it was absolutely the best sales year we’ve ever had. We sold all of our trees in a nine-hour period. I don’t see where the economy greatly affected the final price of our trees.”

Courtney has been auctioning Christmas trees, wreathes and decorative items for 22 years.

“That initial year, we had about 300 trees to sell,” he said. “There were some local farmers who just wanted to make some money. They came to us, and we held an auction. It kept growing and growing after that.”

Through the years, word of the auction grew, until, Courtney said, “this became the place to be on the Tuesday before Thanksgiving to sell your products.”

This year, the auction had sellers from as close as Middleburg and as far away as North Carolina bringing their trees to Mifflinburg.

Buyers came from Maine, West Virginia, Delaware, Maryland, New York, New Jersey and Virginia.

Courtney shook his head in wonderment when asked why the Mifflinburg auction has become the most important Christmas tree auction in the United States.

“Ultimately, people come looking for bargains,” he said. “And they quite often find them. The wholesale price range at this year’s auction was anywhere from $2 to $85 per tree. The $2 trees that we sold are white pines, and that’s exactly what they are worth. We also sold 12-foot Fraser firs for $70 and $85 a tree.”

Brian Winters and his son Allan had come all the way from New Jersey to buy trees for their sales lot near Trenton.

“We come here every year. We rented a truck and will bring back about 10 lots of 50 trees each,” Brian Winters said. “We’re mostly interested in Douglas firs. The prices here are fair for buyers. I’m optimistic about the season ahead. People are buying for their homes, despite the economy in New Jersey.”

Two local sellers also optimistic about the season were Richard and Mary McClellan, who operate McClellan’s Tree Farm, near Middleburg, on the New Berlin Highway.

Contacted on the day of the auction, they could not say what their trees sold for, but Mary McClellan said, “It’s important that we were represented there. We had several hundred lots at the auction. Everyone who grows trees in this area knows that this is where we can sell in bulk amounts.”

The McClellans sell mostly Douglas firs. Their farm has about 35,000 trees planted.