Crop Focus: Hazelnuts

For years, nuts such as hazelnuts have been grown in sunny climates like Italy and Türkiye. However, as climates change throughout the world, nut production is gradually moving northwards on the world map and into the UK.

Hazelnuts particularly like a ‘Goldilocks zone,’ not too hot and not too cold to thrive. With the ideal humidity levels, soil conditions and pollination requirements, nut trees are becoming more integrated within the farming cycles, bringing with it a reduction in soil erosion and increasing habitats for wildlife.

They do not come without challenges, however. Whilst they are resilient and adaptable, they require good irrigation management around the trees, along with ensuring the soil quality is maintained.

The harvesting of hazelnuts starts in early September and continues through to early November. Depending on the scale of your orchard, this may be done by hand or by machines such as trunk shakers and vacuum harvesters.

Many trees are being planted alongside combinable crops such as wheat and barley. This is known as ‘alley cropping’, which is a form of agroforestry. It combines nut trees planted in rows mixed with arable crops between them, often spread apart to the size of a combine header or sprayer boom.

Integrating hazelnuts into the farm can bring financial challenges such as: up-front funding for planting and maintenance, understanding your marketplace, volatility of prices, environmental regulations and other operating costs.

In a nutshell, whether we live on the fens or on the hillsides, integrating hazelnut trees into the farm could be a sight we see in the near future.