I'd be fascinated in the experience value-add economics.
Said as someone who today bought a U-Cut 8' cypress ($56) at a local tree farm, a train ride (2x $2), baling ($2), three drinks + brownie + boiled peanuts (~$12). Thankfully, letting two quarantine-bored teenagers ride in the back of my truck around the farm was free. ;-)
We are currently running the numbers to prepare for things like food/drink truck, sleigh rides, reindeer petting zoo, and some events.
And fwiw, the narrow-gauge railroad got a lot of attention from the kids. Not sure on the maintenance (especially per track-foot), but the engine appeared to have been homemade -- if you've had a burning desire to repurpose a small diesel.
From the outside looking in, the market share graph in the article seemed like cause for concern for farmers like yourself.
If you have the equipment/motivation to steal christmas trees, you probably could be stealing animals too. Those are proabbly worth even more than christmas trees, probably several hundred dollars each.
People with 7-8' ceilings cut the top 6' out of a 12' tree bc they didn't like any of the younger trees.
Which doesn't always mean it's the wrong way, from a business perspective. But if you're charging by height, it's leaving money on the table.
Childhood memories are a strong psychological force.