I just returned from looking at some timber land that I own, well "inherited" anyways. But one thing that I did notice was that there are almost no walnuts on the trees this year. Maybe five percent of what I would see in a normal year. The Oaks are almost as bare as well. We had a very late cold snap in late Spring and I think the mast harvest was mostly wiped out. We have had plenty of rain all Summer long so I think it must be the cold Spring as the cause. Anyone else seeing this type of problem this year? The deer, ducks and squirrels will be very hard pressed to replace the food that these trees will not provide. I'd be willing to give the Ducks a supplement but the game wardens take a dim view of that type action.

In one small area of about six to eight acres it is only Black Walnut trees. You could not see enough nuts on the trees to fill very many five gallon buckets. In a good year you can fill a pickup truck many times over. My grandfather cut all non Black Walnut trees out of this area thinking some day all that Black Walnut would be a nice retirement nest egg. When he passed away my father continued the task. Now he has passed that to me to continue. Some of the trees are getting to be quite impressive and it is so far off the road that almost no one knows about this, so the risk of someone coming in and cutting (stealing) them down is very small.

Don't laugh, I had three Black Walnut trees stolen that way about five years ago, much closer to the road. Each would have squared more than 30" at ten plus feet. All that they left me was a stump and the tree tops. And I did not even know that until almost a year later. The fact is that I am certain who cut and stole them. Same low life tried to buy them a year earlier and was very unhappy when I refused to sell them. He just happened to have band saw milled, air dried, Black Walnut lumber for sale about two years later. Can't prove it but I am certain he did it.

In my grandfathers day the matter would have been addressed and settled long ago. But I am not the man he was and you can not deal with low life's that way anymore. Heck I was told this low life's grandfather or great uncle was one of the last men whipped, by the sheriff, by court order in the county I grew up in. Those were the days, public whippings for stealing. Now we counsel the thief and blame the victim for having too much.

Jon, I only have a few apples trees that I planted for the grandchildren and one white peach tree. The peach was in full bloom when the frost hit here in eastern PA. The apples had some blossoms and I don't have one peach and very few apples. The local farmer that has plums, nectarines, peaches and apples said he lost all plums and nectarines, had some peaches as there are different blooming for some. Most of his apples made it.

I have several Silver Maples that usually produce copious amounts of little helicopters, but this year there were barely any at all. Not sure of the exact reason why, but my research did find one explanation. Apparently during a mild winter the tree become less stressed and therefore the tree is not inclined to produce as many seed to repopulate.

I read it on the internet so it must be true.

Global Warming's the culprit. You can blame Al Gore - he invented it right after he invented the Internet.

I'm seeing no ash seeds here. Ash borer beetle has killed all of the trees.

If there was a lot of rain during blossom time for these mast producing trees, and even fruit trees, the pollenation process is negatively impacted resulting in decreased or nonexistant mast production.

I didn't have any pears at all this year or last, I'm wondering if it's because the city has been spraying for "skeeters". They do it in daylight and I wonder if they are getting the bees also. On the other hand, nut trees don't depend on bees like fruit trees. I hear tree rats cutting green pecans now over my house, based on the number of nuts I can see, I guess pecans are affected also.
Mike

Out here in Arizona our Orange and Grapefruit crop was sparse last year as well(we pick late Winter to early Spring). However; I'm looking at the unripened fruit on the trees this year and it's a potential banner crop.
Jim

Well oak trees sure do. Oaks have flower clusters with flowers about 4 - 5 inches long that I continually have to rake from my lawn and sweep from my walks and decks. Just like apple blossoms produce apples, this is where acorns come from - oak flowers... Walnuts too.

Those flower clusters sound more like the ones on tulip poplar trees.
Mike

We are blessed with exactly the opposite situation here in NW Lower MI. Both soft and hard mast is bountiful this year. Bumper apple , both orchard and wild, grape and cherry crops. So much so, that some sour cherries had to be dumped on the ground (marketing deal). Dogwoods, crabapples, pears, AO and bramble crops stellar too. Black/Red oaks have acorns and we have the best beech nut crop in 4-5 years.

We had a mild, relatively dry spring and growing conditions must have been great for the abundance we see in the woods and field this late summer.

Good Hunting to All.

NB

Water oak in my front yard doesn't seem to be producing a lot of acorns. A persimmon tree at my range is doing well, though, and also a pear tree nearby.

Three or so years ago, the mast was prolific. You could hardly walk without sliding out from under the acorns.

I guess it comes and goes. Deer populations are down a bit from what I hear, but birds aren't dependent on mast. I know I've got a healthy population of squirrels around my property, bold squirrels with no fear.