Our focus is on the American hazelnut, a shrub species native to the oak savannah transition zone between forest and prairie. It produces an oil-rich nut that has fed wildlife for millennia. We believe it can become a staple of the human diet as well. The nuts are delicious raw or roasted, and the oil is nearly 80 percent oleic acid, the same heart-healthy oil as in olive oil. The shrubs are grown in hedgerows in agroforestry plantings that are a mix of grasses, forbs, trees, and livestock. These kinds of mixed-species communities protect soil and water and existed before the moldboard plow.
How Your Gifts Make an Impact
Our vision is for a more biologically diverse and resilient working landscape in the Upper Midwest. Our approach is to explore the biological diversity in our own backyard to develop new crops. Cranberries and blueberries are great examples of crops that originated in wild plants native to our region, but why stop there?
Why We Need Your Support
Contributions to the Hazelnut Development Fund are used to advance the work of the Upper Midwest Hazelnut Development Initiative Research Team as outlined in the Hazelnuts 2030 Strategic Plan. Our work is holistic in nature — we are developing all aspects of this new crop at the same time. While we work with early adopters to develop improved germplasm, we are testing a novel hedgerow production system while also designing and building harvesting and post-harvest processing equipment. At the same time, we are also working to support grower-owned processing and marketing capacity to ensure growers have a stake in the value chain. This is an exciting — but long-term — project, and your financial gift will go a long way in making hazelnuts a valuable crop in the Upper Midwest.