Learn About Growing Hazelnuts in NYS

 

Can hazelnuts (filberts) be grown in as a commercial crop in New York State? Visit the rural property of Dawn and Jeff Zarnowski in McGraw, Cortland County on Saturday August 3 and learn about the possibilities. The Zarnowskis have been growing hazelnuts for some fifteen years and they will explain the basics of hazelnut growing and give a tour of their hazelnut plantings.

 

This full day program is sponsored by the New York Nut Growers Association and will feature presentations by leading horticulturists and plant breeders from Cornell University, Rutgers University, Minnesota and Oregon. These presentations will introduce new cultivars of hazelnut that are resistant to disease and freezing. They will report on successful steps taken to mechanize hazelnut planting and harvesting to allow for larger scale commercial production.

 

The full program agenda is below and also available online at www.nynga.org. The program is free and open to the public but registration is requested. There will also be a buffet lunch served on site for $15.00 – registration is required for this to help plan for the buffet lunch. Registration forms can be obtained from the NYNGA website along with driving directions to the Zarnowski property.

 

For more information, contact John Wertis, NYNGA Program Coordinator at (607)387-4331 or at bwwfarmtoday@aol.com 

 

 

   Agenda

8:30-9:00	Sign in, Snacks, and Chat
9:00-9:30	Welcome and Hazelnuts 101 Talk (Jeff Zarnowski)
9:30-10:00	Genetic Diversity in Hazelnut Research (Megan Muehlbauer, Rutgers)
10:00-10:30	Ongoing Hazelnut Research at Rutgers/Hazelnut Consortium Activity (Dr. Tom Molnar, Rutgers)
10:30-12:00	Walk-About and Talk-About: Z's Nutty Ridge LCC, Hazelnuts and Otherwise (Jeff and Dawn Zarnowski)
12:00-1:00	Lunch and Time to Chat
1:00-1:30	NYNGA Meeting
1:30-2:00	West Coast Hazelnut Cultivars in the Northeast (Dr. Tom Potts)
2:00-2:30	Cornell's Dilmun Hill Planting of Mark Shephard Wisconsin Hazelnuts (Prof. Ken Mudge and Cornell Students)
2:30-3:00	Commercial Hazelnut Growing Opportunities in Southern Ontario and Optimism for Hazelnut Plantings in the Future (OMAFRA Literature and Speaker TBA)