Meet the Partners: Nebraska Forest Service 
& the University of Nebraska-Lincoln

The Nebraska Forest Service and the University of Nebraska–Lincoln (UNL) have been conducting research on hazelnuts for 10 years, focusing on yield, oil yield, cold hardiness, drought resistance and bioenergy. In addition to plant research, the University of Nebraska–Lincoln has developed mechanical equipment for harvesting hazelnuts.

Through an array of strategic initiatives and partnerships, the Nebraska Forest Service (NFS) fosters tree- and forest-based economic development across the state. It has worked on numerous extension and outreach programs to educate farmers and other agricultural professionals about hybrid hazelnuts.

Above & below: Thousands of hybrid hazelnuts are
 being tested at Horning Farm in Nebraska.

NFS is doing the majority of field testing for hazelnut cultivars produced through Hybrid Hazelnut Consortium breeding efforts at Rutgers and Oregon State. Thousands of hazelnuts are planted at NFS’s Horning State Farm Demonstration Forest near Plattsmouth, Nebr., and on UNL’s East Campus, where they’re being studied for resistance to eastern filbert blight and their ability to survive in extreme weather. 

Tests at UNL have shown that hazelnut oil's characteristics make
it an excellent candidate for biodiesel and other oleochemicals.  

The Industrial Agricultural Products Center at UNL has analyzed hybrid hazelnut oil as part of its work with the Consortium. The analysis has yielded some interesting findings: 

• An average hazelnut produces nearly twice the amount of oil per acre as soybeans.
• The physical/chemical characteristics of hazelnuts for biodiesel are substantially superior to soybean oil.
• The percentage of oil per hazelnut kernel ranges from 56.1% to 75.2%.
• Hazelnut oil has a unique fatty acid composition, thermal stability and low temperature properties that should increase its value over soybean oil for a number of applications.

Hazelnuts as Feedstock

Hybrid hazelnuts can produce nearly twice the amount of oil per acre as soybeans, and the oil's physical and chemical properties make it substantially superior to soybean oil for culinary use and biodiesel fuel production. 

A largely unexplored, yet promising, opportunity exists with the byproduct created when oil is extracted from hazelnuts. A high-quality protein meal remains that can be used for livestock feed.

Adopting hazelnuts as a feedstock crop would increase overall crop diversity for growers, reducing their risk while promoting integrated, environmentally friendly production systems.

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.