For 23 years, Curtis Abbott and his family have been growing and selling Christmas trees on their farm in the town of Charlton, Massachusetts. Photos from previous harvests show picture-perfect trees towering evergreens with sturdy branches dusted with white snow.

But this year, Abbott Tree Farm has shared no photographs.

Instead, a couple of days before Thanksgiving, the farm posted an unexpected message on Facebook : Sorry we are closed.

Drought, said Abbott, had forced the farm to shutter its doors this year only the second time its done so in over two decades. We feel it would be best to keep the farm closed, he wrote on Nov. 22.

Massachusetts has been plagued by drought for months. As of last week, more than 60 percent of the state was suffering severe drought conditions, according to the U.S. Drought Monitor. The dry weather has wreaked havoc on the states wildlife, water and vegetation .

But its not just the Bay State thats parched. Swathes of the country, including parts of the south and southeast, have been impacted by drought since the summer.

The nations farmers have been especially hard hit by the dry spell. Crops have failed , livestock has had to be sold and farmers like Abbott have been struggling to keep the iconic Christmas tree typically spruces, pines and firs alive.

In Alabama, ravaged by the worst drought in memory , Christmas tree farms throughout the state are realizing they have no trees available this year, farmer Roger Schwerman told The Huffington Post last week. Christmas tree farms in Tennessee are opening later in the season because of drought and in statesfrom Florida to New York, farmers have complained of dead seedlings, stunted growth and Christmas trees that are stressed and unusually dry.

This is not normal. This is drought damage . You can see the needles falling off, Mark Harnett, owner of Mistletoe Christmas Tree Farm in Stow, Mass., told WFXT-TV in November, pointing to one of his yellowing trees. Its not very healthy. Its not doing well.

Fortunately for Christmas tree shoppers, the drought will likely not impact this years supply of festive conifers. Even in the driest states, there will likely be enough trees to go around though some may be drier and less robust than in previous years. Christmas trees are hardy plants and are usually only sold when they are eight to 10 years old. Its the younger trees that tend to be the most susceptible to drought.

Because of this, however, farmers warn that the future of the Christmas tree is less assured. Many farms across the country reported losing a significant chunk of their seedlings or young trees this year due to drought. This could mean weaker harvests in the years to come, threatening a quintessential part of a billion-dollar industry .

This years drought will have a long-lasting effect, said Schwerman, whose own trees have been left dehydrated by the dry weather. It might drive many farms out of the tree business.