A federal appeals court ruled Tuesday that Christmas tree farms are involved in agriculture, not forestry, and don't have to pay workers overtime.

The ruling by a three-judge panel of the Fourth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals reversed a decision by U.S. District Judge Richard Voorhees. He ruled that Christmas tree growers in North Carolina were not exempt from the overtime requirements.

The growers paid for overtime until 1995 when they began hiring legal aliens to harvest their trees. The Labor Department declared that federal law required the growers to provide benefits that included free housing, meals and transportation.

The Labor Department said the work was defined as agriculture for purposes of the immigration law, but as forestry for purposes of the labor law. The growers disagreed and stopped paying overtime until the Labor Department forced them to in 1998.

The growers sued, but Voorhees sided with the Labor Department.

Tuesday's ruling came after the growers appealed Vorhees' ruling.

(Copyright 2004 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)