This year’s Oregon hazelnut crop could be the largest ever, as more young trees across the Willamette Valley reach maturity.
The USDA National Agricultural Statistics Service released its annual production forecast Aug. 25, predicting growers will harvest 71,000 tons of hazelnuts. That’s 61% more than last year’s total of 44,000 tons, and 39% more than the previous record of 51,000 tons in 2018.
Nearly all U.S. hazelnuts — or filberts — are grown in Oregon, though the state accounts for just 5% of global supply. Turkey, the world’s largest hazelnut producer, exported 338,200 tons between Sept. 1, 2019, and Aug. 23.
The Oregon Hazelnut Marketing Board funds the NASS survey, which looks not only at expected yield but size and quality based on field samples.
This year’s anticipated spike in production coincides with a 20% increase in mature orchards, from 50,000 acres in 2019 to 60,000 acres in 2020. It usually takes 2-5 years before a newly planted hazelnut tree becomes established and starts bearing nuts.
Farmers have almost tripled hazelnut acreage in the Willamette Valley since 2010, spurred by the development of new varieties resistant to Eastern Filbert Blight, a tree-killing fungal disease. The total acreage planted is approaching 85,000, meaning another 25,000 acres will begin producing a crop in the near future.
Darrin Cline, a spokesman for the Hazelnut Marketing Board, said the industry is excited by the forecast heading into the mid-September harvest.
“We anticipated there would be a spike coming at some point in time,” Cline said. “We have growers who are excited to get out in the field and see if projections become reality.”
NASS collected 180 random hazelnut tree and limb samples as part of the survey, and picked 89,807 nuts for lab analysis. The average nut size was down slightly, from 5.9 grams in 2019 to 5.6 grams, though the number of nuts collected per tree was up from 201 to 264.
“Large” nuts accounted for 37% of the total, and “Jumbo” nuts accounted for 43%.
Terry Ross, executive director of the Hazelnut Growers Bargaining Association, said prices are not yet set for the 2020 crop. Last year, growers received 83 cents per pound. In 2018, the industry set a three-tiered pricing system that ranged from 62 to 91 cents per pound, depending on variety.
Ross said the NASS production forecast has caught some in the industry off guard. A previous subjective survey conducted by the Hazelnut Marketing Board indicated the 2020 crop would be 59,000 tons — still a record, but not such a dramatic leap.
“The NASS Survey, the last two years, has been fairly accurate,” Ross said. “It’s got us all thinking. It’s a big jump from 44,000 tons to 71,000 tons. But we’ll get it priced, and get it sold.”
Ryan Flaherty, grower relations manager for the Hazelnut Growers of Oregon, an agricultural co-op representing approximately 200 growers, said it is still too early to know exactly what the final tonnage will be. Predicting yields, especially in young orchards, can be tricky business.
“We’ll know officially when it’s in the barn,” Flaherty said.
