Hazelnuts Are Drought Resistant

We’re sweltering in triple-digit heat in the Midwest today. We’ve had no measureable rainfall in weeks and the extremely hot, dry conditions are expected to continue through next week. Annual crops are under considerable stress, which points to one of the significant reasons we think hybrid hazelnuts hold promise for Midwest growers.

Hazelnuts use less water and are drought resistant. Massive root systems allow the perennial plants to avoid short-term droughts that adversely affect annual crops. Tests in Nebraska have shown that hazelnuts can be a staple dry-land crop. If irrigation is needed, drip or trickle irrigation can be used with hazelnuts which greatly increases water efficiency and helps conserve this vital resource.

Climatically Adapted Hazelnuts 
Would Increase Growing Area

Oregon’s temperate Willamette Valley produces almost all of the U.S. hazelnut crop which was valued $89.3 million in 2011, a 32% increase over the previous year. This represents only about 3% of the world crop, however, so it’s easy to see the potential for American farmers if climatically adapted hazelnuts can be developed.

We believe the U.S. has the potential to become one of the world’s leading, sustainable hazelnut producers, which is why we’re working to develop disease-resistant hazelnuts that can survive greater fluctuations in temperatures than those in Oregon. Expanding the growing region will create thousands of jobs and millions of dollars, and would allow homeowners and gardeners to grow and enjoy tasty, high-quality hazelnuts as well.   
  

 

U.S. hazelnut production currently is limited to the
Willamette Valley in Oregon.

This is the potential growing area for hazelnuts if climatically
adapted hybrids are developed.

Hybrid Hazelnuts:
An Agroforestry Opportunity

We believe tremendous opportunity will exist for U.S. farmers and nut growers when disease-resistant, climatically adapted hazelnuts are developed. Why? Because hazelnut plants require less water than annual crops, are drought resistant and can be grown on hilly, sloping or marginal soils. Our research in Nebraska has shown that hazelnuts can be a high-yielding dry-land crop.

Hybrid hazelnut shrubs will be suitable for integration into farming systems as orchards or income-producing windbreaks or snow fences. Used in riparian forest buffers, they will reduce erosion, store water and trap soil, chemicals and nutrients while producing additional income for landowners.
 
They also may provide revenue-generating capability for small, difficult-to-farm parcels of land, such as corners created by pivot irrigation systems or in areas where unusual topography is unsuited for cultivated crops.

And where ever they’re planted, they’ll provide year-round habitat for wildlife. Check out our website at www.arborday.org/programs/hazelnuts/consortium for more information about the potential of hybrid hazelnuts.

Hazelnuts Are Sustainable, Nutritious 

"Delicious desserts are one thing, but delicious sustainable desserts are another," says Matthew Taylor, executive chef at the Arbor Day Foundation's Lied Lodge restaurant in Nebraska City, Nebr.

These hazelnut chocolate bouchons meet both criteria, Chef Matt says, because he uses hazelnuts harvested from the hybrid hazelnut field 500 feet from the kitchen. "They add nutritious, great-tasting flavor to a variety of dishes we serve here at Lied Lodge," he says.

Hazelnut Flourless Chocolate Bouchons
2 lbs. chocolate
1 tsp. salt
1 cup heavy cream
1 cup whole milk
2 vanilla beans
1½ cups sugar
1 oz. powdered gelatin
2 cups crushed toasted hazelnuts
6 egg whites
Cocoa powder
1 cup whole toasted hazelnuts

Melt the chocolate in a double boiler over low heat for approximately 15 minutes. Combine salt, cream, milk, vanilla beans, sugar and gelatin in a sauce pan and bring to a scald. Be careful not to boil. Set aside to cool. Slowly stir the cream mixture into the melted chocolate and reserve at room temperature; add the crushed hazelnuts. Chill a bowl and the egg whites, and then whip the egg whites into stiff peaks. Fold into the chocolate mixture. Spray a silicone mold with pan spray and dust with cocoa powder. Bake at 325 degrees for about 25 minutes or until picks come out clean. Chill the mold. Remove for serving, and garnish with toasted hazelnuts.

Meet the Partners: Arbor Day Foundation

Arbor Day Foundation (ADF) began its Hazelnut Research Project in 1996 with plantings of hybrid hazelnuts at Arbor Day Farm in Nebraska City, Nebr. By 2000 the project had evolved to include charter members across the nation conducting research on hazelnuts in their own backyards, and has reached nearly 100,000 active members.

This spring, about 40,000 hybrid hazelnut plants (shown above) were grown in ADF's greenhouse—the largest crop their facilities have ever handled.

A hybrid hazelnut sprouting in the greenhouse.

Among the key findings from ADF research are: best practices and methods for growing hazelnuts from seeds; hybrid hazelnuts can thrive in Nebraska as a dryland crop; and Arbor Day Farm hybrids grow best in zones 4-8.

Greenhouse Manager Adam Howard checks the root
system and structure on a hybrid hazelnut plant.

Hazelnut research fields surround Arbor
Day Foundation's beautiful Lied Lodge
in Nebraska City.

Consortium Partners Present Findings 

A few weeks ago Dr. Shawn Mehlenbacher from Oregon State wrote about his recent trip to Chile with Oregon hazelnut researchers and growers where he presented at a conference and also visited Chilean nurseries and hazelnut farms. 

Below is a partial list of other presentations and articles published by Consortium members over the past year detailing our work to create hybrid hazelnuts that are blight-resistant and can grow in areas with hot and cold weather extremes. For a comprehensive list, see the Hybrid Hazelnut Consortium website.  

Chambers, U., V.M. Walton, and S.A. Mehlenbacher. 2011.
Susceptibility of hazelnut cultivars to filbertworm, Cydia latiferreana. Amer. Soc. Hort. Sci. October 2011 vol. 46 no. 10 1377-1380. 

Sathuvalli, V. S.A. Mehlenbacher and D.C. Smith. 2011.
DNA markers linked to eastern filbert blight resistance from a hazelnut selection from the Republic of Georgia. J. Amer. Soc. Hort. Sci. 136: 350–357.

Kahn, P.C., T.J. Molnar, G. Zhang., and C.R. Funk. 2011. Investing in Perennial Crops to Sustainably Feed the World. Issues in Science and Technology. Summer 2011, p. 75–81

G. Cai, C. Leadbetter, T. Molnar, and B.I. Hillman. 2011. Genome sequencing and analysis of Anisogramma anomala, the causal agent of eastern filbert blight. Abstracts of the Annual Meeting of the American Phytopathological Society, Honolulu, HI, August 6-11, 2011. Phytopathology Vol. 101, No. 6 (Supplement) S25 [search Cai]

G. Cai, C. Leadbetter, T. Molnar, and B.I. Hillman. 2011. Genome-wide identification and characterization of microsatellite markers in Anisogramma anomala. Abstracts of the Annual Meeting of the American Phytopathological Society, Honolulu, HI, August 6-11, 2011. Phytopathology Vol. 101, No. 6 (Supplement) S25 [search Cai]

Leadbetter, C., T. Molnar and J. Capik. 2011. Screening new hazelnut germplasm for resistance to eastern filbert blight. HortScience 46(9):S4. (Abstr.) [Search Leadbetter]

Capik, J and T.J. Molnar. 2011. Breeding ornamental hazelnuts. HortScience 46(9):S3. (Abstr.) [search Capik]

Molnar, T.J., Capik, J., Leadbetter, C.W., Zhang, Z., Cai, G. and B. Hillman. 2011. Developing hazelnuts (Corylus spp.) with durable resistance to eastern filbert blight caused by Anisogramma anomala. Abstracts of the Fourth International Workshop on the Genetics of Host-Parasite Interactions in Forestry. Pg. 39 Eugene, Oregon, July 31–Aug. 5, 2011 [search Molnar]

Molnar, T.J. and J. Capik. 2011. Breeding for eastern filbert blight resistance in hazelnuts. HortScience 46(9):S8. (Abstr.) [search Molnar]

 Mehlenbacher, S.A., D.C. Smith and R.L. McCluskey. 2011. “Jefferson” hazelnut. HortScience April 2011 46:662-664.

Mehlenbacher, S.A., D.C. Smith, R.L. McCluskey and M.M. Thompson. 2011.'Tonda Pacifica' hazelnut. HortScience March 2011 46:505-508.

Sathuvalli, V.R. 2011. Eastern filbert blight in hazelnut (Corylus avellana): Identification of new resistance sources and high resolution genetic and physical mapping of a resistance gene. PhD dissertation. Oregon State University, Corvallis, Oregon.

Sathuvalli, V.R. and S.A. Mehlenbacher. 2011. Characterization of American hazelnut (Corylus americana) accessions and Corylus americana x Corylus avellana hybrids using microsatellite markers. Genetic Resources and Crop Evolution DOI 10.1007/s10722-011-9743-0.

Seedlings at Rutgers Inoculated With EFB

Today at Rutgers University, thousands of hazelnut seedlings are being inoculated with spores of the fungus Anisogramma anomala to test their resistance to eastern filbert blight.

The inoculation procedure begins with cutting the stromata (mushroom-like fruiting bodies) from infected stems. 

Next, the stromata are ground up in distilled water with a mortar and pestle to release the millions of spores they contain. This spore solution is then diluted to a specific concentration shown to work best with young hazelnut seedlings. 

The spore solution is sprayed directly onto the growing tips of plants, which are grown in humidity chambers that mimic the conditions that occur in nature during infection.

John Capik sprays seedlings in the inoculation

chamber with the spore solution.

  

From this point on, it’s a waiting game. Believe it or not, this fungus can take up to 16 months to show its devastating effects.  

The plants are raised normally after inoculations and even the susceptible ones (unknown at the time) grow well. By the end of the summer, the plants typically reach 6-8 feet tall. From here, they’re overwintered in a cold greenhouse for chilling. Proper winter chilling is necessary for the plants to leaf out and begin growing normally in the spring as well as to trigger the fungus to create the EFB cankers. They wake up and start growing the following March. It’s not until June or July that the EFB cankers become apparent and we can identify those that appear to be resistant to the disease.

These seedlings were inoculated last year, and

now we're waiting to see if cankers emerge

on the stems.

We discard the sick plants and plant the apparently healthy ones in the field in October, which grow for five more years. At the end of this time, those that show no eastern filbert blight are evaluated for the nuts they produce. – Dr. Tom Molnar, Rutgers University