With a harsh drought, it's tough for wild huckleberries and Flathead cherries

Many venture into Montana's wilderness to find the iconic, flavorful and the state's fruit the huckleberry. However, this year, the fruit is hard to find.

“I go to the same spot, no huckleberry. This year is hard to find,” said Vang Moua, a huckleberry vendor at Helena’s farmers market.

Huckleberry pickers, like Moua, who count on the harvest to sell these wild berries, are feeling the impact as the berries are noticeably scarce in the state's mountains this season.

“Some weekends I have a couple pounds, and some weekends I don't have any,” said Moua.

The reason for it? Well, the answer is not so black and white.

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.

Another beloved fruit in Montana, the Flathead cherry, is also taking a hit from this season's cold snap. The freezing temperatures have damaged the buds on the trees, raising concerns for this year's crop.

Ryan Burg

“We've been hearing is that you could take a gallon bucket to a tree and not fill it up. So the yields are incredibly low because of this killing winter event that eliminated flowers,” said Svyantek.

Dennis Davis, who picks and sells Flathead cherries at his stand in Helena agrees.

“It depends on the orchard. Sometimes they ll get, you know, six, seven, eight 30-pound bins off of a tree. This year, they ll be lucky to get a half a bin, if that,” said Davis.

Davis says despite the cherries' quality still being good, around 95% of the crop was lost due to January's cold snap, which is why prices are up this year.

“Prices are way higher this year, they just simply are, it’s what they have to be. I'm paying multiples of what I normally pay. But the flip side of that is the quality is really good because that part of the cherries that are there, the trees then have to work, it's hard to make them because they weren't full. But it is weird to go see a tree with like literally one cherry hanging by itself,” said Davis.

This year was tough for the Flathead cherry and the wild huckleberry. Some pickers say they are expecting a similar season next year, but they are keeping spirits high that it turns around.