With squirrel season opening last Saturday and deer hunters already checking out deer, I asked regional forester Tom Gargrave if he had any take on the impact of the heavy rains and flooding in counties south (Will, Grundy, LaSalle, Livingston, Kankakee, Iroquois).
Here is what he sent back last week:
Dale Traveling throughout these counties and in the woods the last several days I have noticed average to below average seed production on white oaks and hickory’s ……several other foresters I talked to confirmed this as well. Walnut seems normal. Summer rains doesn’t affect the number or size of acorns but climate conditions during pollination periods definitely will. This year we had cool/wet days during pollination, which may have caused insect pollinators and climate factorswind and dry air moving, to be less effective. Several white oaks I looked at have no seed at all. Soft fruit trees (apple,pear etc) seem to be normal. As we get further into late summer, I’ll let you know if I see or hear of anything different.
