Montana Huckleberries Struggle Amid Harsh Drought Conditions

In agriculture, every year is different. Some years you may get plenty of rain, the next may be drought. Some years you have an early spring. Some years you have a blistery winter late into May.

According to KPAX

In January, we experienced an arctic outbreak of sub-zero temperatures, and in July, we experienced a two-week stretch where we were at, or above, 90 degrees with little to no rain.

Andrej Svyantek, an assistant professor at Montana State University’s Western Agriculture Research Center, says that type of exposure, as well as animals who occasionally feed off the plant, can all be factors for the lack of the berry this year.

“Water stress, heat stress, cold stress can all accumulate to lead to a stress plant that may or may not be able to make it through the heat of the summer,” said Svyantek.

Fewer huckleberries are going to be a big hit for much of the thriving huckleberry portion of the tourist industry. A regional treat that people from all over the world crave. Our tart little purple berries are another fruit that Montana relies on.

I have seen for myself how my "special huckleberry spot" has few and far between fruit this season. Making the taste of summer almost non-existent in my house.

FUN FACT: Huckleberries are very hard to domesticate. They thrive in the wild, in soil that is hard to recreate. Though it is not impossible to domesticate a huckleberry bush, it will never produce as much fruit as a wild bush.