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There is no mandatory reporting by morelists, not even a phone-it-in recording system, but there were informal testimonies, casual conversations with fellow harvesters, and responses from morel buyers, some who have been in business for decades.

Two of those buyers, when asked to assess the 2017 season which was basically late April through mid-May, could do so in a word or two: “Worst ever,” they both said, founding their responses on the customers bringing mushrooms in for a few bucks.

Both paid about $20 a pound during the season, knowing full well that individuals had to shell out more than $50 a pound at grocery stores and farmers’ markets.

Guesses abound but weather and a roller coaster of highs seemed to be best founded guesses for this worst-ever season of gathering.

Some of these buyers, who then ship morels to other states, recalled buying up to a ton of mushrooms on a good weekend over the years. Now, maybe a few hundred pounds were being brought in.

Of course, there are more small buyers now and pickers are more likely to feed their own faces, give to the neighbors or dry and store than were common a decade ago.