AW NUTS: Large acorn and nut crop due to dry weather

If you have noticed a plethora of acorns on your lawn this year, you're not alone. Nuts of all varieties benefitted from this year's drier conditions during the summer. The results is nuts...literally...buts, and lots of them.

"This year and last year we've had a heavy acorn crop," said Michael Goodchild, Forestry/Horticulture Agent for Walton County Extension Office. "But this was a mixed year for the pecan harvest, coming in below last year's."

According to Goodchild, the amount of nuts produced is directly related to the weather conditions. If there is a drought, then more nuts will be produced.

"When trees are stressed they produce more seeds," he said.

Drier summers will create a better harvest for pecans especially, since they will be less likely to contract disease. Pecan scab is one disease that occurs due to too much moisture, causing spotty leaving and a black outside to the nut, according to Goodchild.

The large amounts of acorns produced this year are beneficial to wildlife throughout the area whic feed on them. Typically, animals prefer White Oak acorns because they are the most nutritious and do not have a bitter taste unlike Laurel Oak acorns, which are the most abundant oak trees in the county, according to Goodchild.