any acorns?

[ductape]

Whent scouting today and noticed the lack of acorns on the old oak trees, none on the dozens in my back yard either. Anyone else not seeing them or is it only me?

[hill boy]

Squirrel season opens sept. 5 in arkansas and that is usually when I take stock on food source.Should be intresting on acorns.We had a huge ice storm in northern arkansas last winter and I'm not sure how it will effect the acorn crop.But one thing for certain,there will be plenty of browse and cover from tree tops.may be a tuff year for huntin but good for the deer.

[Cody Schnettgoecke]

Most of the big oaks I've looked at this year are loaded with acorns. Could just be the area you were in??? Looks like a good crop around here this year.

[Doug in MN]

I have more than we have ever seen before. Been living in the same spot for 23 years. You can not walk in the back yard here in MN. Right now the deer are to busy eating the sweet corn to be bothered with acorns.

Sat out on the hay bails and watched them for a while. There was an older doe that was just plain fat. Very smart deer though she was running the show. May take a bit to get her in the freezer.

DD

[Don Stokes]

I was thinking about the white oaks this morning. It's been several years since we had a good crop due to late freezes, but this may be the year! The muscadines and persimmons are bearing heavily, which is a good sign. I'll be taking my binoculars out to scan the tree tops soon.

[Doug in MN]

Don, I hope you guys are going to have the kind of White Oak acorn year we are having already up here in Minnesota get a grain shovel your going to need it.

Had 3 deer in the yard off the deck last night you could hear them chewing.

DD

[High Knob]

Last year there were many areas on the east coast that saw a dramatic drop in acorn production. This excerpt is from the Washington Post as to possible reasons why:

"Being a nut-bearing tree, an oak's life cycle is directly tied to seasons, and its productivity is dependent on weather. For example, white oak tree flowers are pollinated in the spring; acorns grow and mature throughout the summer; and acorns fall to the ground in autumn. According to the U.S. Forest Service, anthers (the flower parts that produce pollen) on white oak flowers open and close with changes in humidity. Also, a very rainy spring can damage flowers, delay pollen production or reduce pollen dispersal. The most productive white oak acorn seasons are those with a stretch of 10 warm days followed by a few weeks of cool days; whereas, the least productive are those in which cool temperatures precede warm.
The weather could be one factor in the lack of acorn crop this year. As you may recall, spring of 2008 was wet, with a May rainfall total of 10.66 inches -- the second wettest on record. The rainy spring was preceded by several months of drought.
Even though a single mature white oak can produce 10,000 acorns annually, it will also go through years of little to no acorn production depending on external conditions. One year without acorns shouldn't cause us too much worry. However, it is definitely something to monitor; if the lack of acorn crop becomes a trend, this behavior could be an indication of other environmental and climatic factors at play."

White oaks are apparently cyclical in their acorn production - a bumper year is often followed by a year of lower production. Other oaks I understand are more consistant.