We too have no acorns on adult healthy trees; additionally two mature (old) oak trees at our church have no acorns. I work with a lady from Mackinaw who also have no acorns on mature tree that consistantly produce bushels of acorns. Could this perhaps be a statewide issue?

Greetings Kristy:

Oak seeding is a mysterious thing: good seed producing trees; bad seed producing trees; inconsistent seed producing trees; consistent seed producing trees; good seed producing years; and bad seed producing years.

Acorn production is very cyclical: members of the white oak family may produce bumper crops every 5-8 years, whereas members of the red oak family may produce bumper crops every 3-5 years. However, this is a general trend or cycle, and not "absolute" by any stretch of the imagination. Environmental and biological conditions can severely impact oak mast production during any given year: heavy insect infestation, spring frosts, wet spring, drought, etc.

I wouldn't say it is a statewide issue because we have many oak trees in my area that were plum ripe with seed this year. Again, just reemphasizes the point of boom, bust, and steady mast production.