Montana’s Cherry and Huckleberry Crops at Risk of Failing

Summer has arrived and you can almost taste it. The different flavors always remind you of good summer days. Sensations like biting into a chunk of watermelon. Or, chewing on a cob of sweet corn. Some summertime flavors are unique to Montana and the region. Summertime snacks like Flathead cherries and huckleberries are normally abundant in the summer. But, this year may be different.

Get our free mobile app

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 Montana1stnews.com

Many growers in Northwest Montana have lost their cherry crops due to the horrendous cold snaps we endured in January and February. Furthermore, local cherry orchards have not endured such a terrible freeze since the late 80s and early 90s. The real culprit happens when there is a warming trend then a hard freeze or two and as one cherry grower stated, “The buds are starting to swell” and then boom they freeze literally to death once a deep-freeze sets in.

Less cherries is going to be a big hit for the Flathead area. Couple that with the possibility that huckleberries may also be few and far between in areas this summer. A regional treat that people from all over the world crave. Our tart little purple berries are another fruit that Montana relies on.

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.