Drought’s impact seen as not so sweet for farmers market participants

MORTON (25News Now) - A local beekeeper is worried the dry weather will mean less honey, and less money.

Matt Miller was one of the many local business owners at the Morton Farmers Market Tuesday night.

Miller says with this dry weather, most of the flowers and plants are struggling, meaning less honey than he had last year.

“The bees collect nectar from plants, trees, from flowers, some other things and this dry weather we’ve been happening, there’s less nectar being produced, that means less honey produced, that means less collected for this summer and fall,” said Miller, who runs the Woodland Meadows Apiary in Tremont.

Lowell Ioerger, of Ioerger Family Farms in Minonk, says it’s already been a difficult year.

The drought is getting to be a serious thing. We usually have strawberries, nice big, fat strawberries and our biggest strawberry this year is about the size of a dime,” Ioerger said.

“It’s been so dry, it’s been so seedy, we aren’t going to pick them this year,” Ioerger said.

The farmer’s market is every Tuesday on Jefferson Street in Morton.

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