SONG News August 2015 no.104
In this Issue...

President's Message
Ernie Grimo

Being in the Niagara Peninsula near Lake Ontario has been a great advantage for me. I have been able to grow things that just a few miles from me would not be possible. My neighbour has wind machines that surround me and when frosty nights come along like the one we had in May this year, the wind machines move out the cold air and warmer air descends from above removing the possibility of frost. Because of the wind machines, I have a full crop on all of my orchard trees. The limbs of my heartnuts, Persian walnuts and hazelnuts are bending to the ground with the load of nuts on many of the trees. Fig trees are very sensitive to frosty conditions and they can be damaged easily. I can confidently put my potted fig trees outside at the end of March most years and I have never lost the crop or had damage to my trees. They also now have a full crop of figs which will be ripe by late September.

I am sorry if I appear to write with tongue in cheek but I deliberately chose this land 43 years ago because it was a safe area to grow nursery trees. I often get interested growers who are looking for land to grow nut trees on but their first priority is to find cheap land. Often it means that the land is only suitable for native nut species and not the ones that are in demand. As a nursery, we often get interested growers who want to supply Ferrero Roche with hazelnuts but don't realize that the European varieties they need to grow are not suitable for their climate zone. The Oregon selections are basically European cultivars and suited for zones 6b-9.

Unfortunately much of Ontario except for the Niagara, area below the escarpment and the area near Windsor are the only areas where these European cultivars are suited. Martin Hodgson and I have been experimenting to find hardier selections for the colder zones. I have been selecting hybrid hazelnut material from Saskatchewan and colder regions like Quebec where the climatic zones range from zone 3b to 5. Through selecting, we have new hybrids on the horizon that are blight free and hardy to zone 3b. Some of our new cultivars are now under test at the University of Saskatchewan and also in trials in Wisconsin and Minnesota as well as at the Simcoe Station trials. When we have enough quantity of nuts for a test we will know if they are acceptable to Ferrero. Until then we motor on!

Notes from Butternut Farm Summer 2015
Martin and Pat Hodgson

The winter of 2014-15 and 2015 spring has had a lingering effect on the crops that will be produced this year at our farm. We all know about the last winter. One of the coldest and longest in years.

As the spring broke and warmed up it looked like most of the trees survived and we were headed to a great crop.

That was with except for the 25 year old Carpathian walnuts. Not a leaf was seen on the five | trees I have. Then the late May frost came in with temperatures reportedly below -7 C. The frost went at least 12 ft. in the air if not higher, as evidenced by the lack of catkins on the chestnuts. That also ended the heartnuts and many others, such as black walnuts, kiwis, Saskatoons and mulberries. The blaeberries were also reduced in volume and the spring raspberries were nearly not even seen. (Fall crop raspberries coming on strong though) The blossoms that did do well despite the cold, were the northern pecans, hickories, black currents, papaws, and last but most important, the hazel nuts. Apples have a much reduced crop, but pears did better with near normal crop.

Most of the hazel nuts came through with no apparent damage, with the exception to 75% of | the two year old Jeffersons. These 4-6 ft. high trees were dead to the ground and others had dead branches. They are now re-sprouting from the base. One year old 18-24"high Yamhills had no apparent problems.

Throughout the orchard, after the trees had all leafed out nicely, we started seeing newly dead and dying branches. No trees were totally affected, but a few had up to 75% loss. Others just branch tips.

It would appear that this is bacterial blight caused by the cracking of the bark in cold weather | which then allowed infections to get into the trees and kill the affected branches, U of G has ! recommended the removal of the branches and also spraying in the spring. A lot of work to do | the removal and it will affect the yield as some branches are affected but only in some sections | while others have nuts showing on them.

The pollination of the hazel nuts occurred in early April for a short period, but the catkins were | somewhat weak in their performance and few flowers were seen.

The nuts themselves started appearing quite late towards the end of June and were still just j appearing in late July in a few trees. Seems the cold weather really sets back the appearance of I the nuts as the same thing happened last year.

The nut harvest will be greatly reduced on most trees, but here are a few that seem to have a ! reasonable crop. By mid-August, some nuts were fully filled the focus of serious interest ! by the local tree rats and blue winged thieves.

I believe that this last winter has indicated that few of the Oregon named trees will survive | well outside of Zone 7.1 am in a Zone 6, but a very cold 6. Indeed I may be located in a micro I climate. Initial thoughts that hazel nuts will grow where apples grow may be somewhat over optimistic maybe? I have trees in Arthur and Manitoulin Island in field trials too.

On the bright side of things we have two of our trees named to the selected cultivars of OHA as good pollinators and I have identified five other trees that possibly could fit right into the main orchard tree selections as they are the right shape for Ferrero's needs. They will have to be tested at Simcoe's field trial though. Here's hoping!

Opportunity Grows on Ontario Hazelnut Trees
Emma Drake, Communications Summer Intern

Hazelnuts are enjoyed by many Canadian consumers, especially in the form of Nutella or Ferrero Rocher chocolates. Though both products are produced in Ontario, most of the hazelnuts used in these products come from across the Atlantic Ocean. Eighty percent of the world's hazelnuts are produced in Turkey, equivalent to just over 500,000 tonnes of hazelnuts, according to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO).

Adam Dale, college professor emeritus in the Department of Plant Agriculture, has been making headlines for his research on bringing hazelnut production to Ontario. Together with the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food, and Rural Affairs (OMAFRA) and the Ontario Hazelnut Association, Adam is helping to establish an Ontario hazelnut industry through his efforts to determine the most productive tree varieties for the province.

Hazelnuts began to catch the attention of Ontario researchers, farmers and the government in 2006 when Ferrero opened a manufacturing plant in the city of Brantford. Ferrero is best known for those Canadian favourites previously mentioned: Ferrero Rocher and Nutella.

The Brantford plant supplies Canada with Ferrero hazelnut products, and also exports to the United States, Mexico and Australia.

Adam saw the opening of the Brantford plant as a great opportunity for Ontario producers, especially those who were looking to diversify their crops. He approached Ferrero about the development of an Ontario hazelnut industry and in 2008, Adam and his team began research trials.

"With Ferrero's support and available funding, the research trials we began in 2008 are still continuing today," explains Adam. The hazelnut trials are being done at the University of Guelph Simcoe Research Station in Simcoe, Ontario. "Early on in the research, we identified three major concerns with developing an Ontario hazelnut Industry," he shares. First and foremost, the researchers needed to find varieties that could withstand Ontario winters.

Some hazelnut varieties cannot tolerate the Ontario winters, and their catkins freeze off. Catkins are flowering clusters that when pollinated, produce fruit, or in this instance, nuts, With hazelnuts, pollination is more complicated as they are self-incompatible, meaning they must cross-pollinate. Without catkins, hazelnuts cannot be pollinated and no crop will be produced.

Another concern is the presence of Eastern Filbert Blight in Ontario. Hazelnuts are also known as filberts, and this disease can devastate a crop. British Columbia has a well-established hazelnut industry, but the Eastern Filbert Blight recently destroyed many orchards in the province.

For a hazelnut industry to be successful in Ontario the varieties must be resistant to this disease, or at least tolerant of it. Since beginning his trials, Adam has had success in selecting and breeding varieties that are tolerant or resistant to the disease.

Finally, Adam and his team needed to develop a strategy to propagate hazelnut trees rapidly in order to help advance their research efforts quickly. With the help of Prof. Praveen Saxena, also in the Department of Plant Agriculture, a micro-propagation technique was established. This technique enables propagation of the hazelnut trees to occur three times faster than anywhere else in the world. Mori Essex Nurseries, located in Jordan Station, Ontario, is now using this technique to propagate varieties for research and commercial purposes.

Through his research, Adam and his team have developed a preliminary list of recommended hazelnut varieties for Ontario, and he is already seeing success with many of the local Ontario varieties. "We have some local varieties which are doing very well," Adam shares. "Some are already in the marketplace, and others will be in the marketplace soon."

The research process has not been without its challenges. Hazelnut trees, which are perennials, take four years to grow a crop, and seven to eight years to grow a full crop.

"The length of time required for research with these perennial crops is one of the biggest issues," states Adam.

Another issue has been the winter hardiness and disease resistance, or lack thereof, of the varieties being researched. Two varieties in the research trials died this past winter setting back the research four seasons, due to the time needed for the tree to mature.

Adam has also needed to balance hardiness with final, product. "The varieties which are most winter-hardy tend not to have the quality preferred by Ferrero," he explains. Ferrero requires high quality hazelnuts to ensure their final products are properly processed and maintain an excellent taste.

However, to ensure the industry is successful, more than research is needed. The next step, and one of the most crucial, is to attract and maintain producer interest. Elliott Currie, an associate professor in the Department of Management, College of Business and Economics, believes that the profit to be made will provide the incentive.

"At today's price, per acre you could make over $3,000 with a mature orchard," Elliott shares. This estimate is based on a yield of 2,200 pounds per acre, modified from statistics from Oregon in the United States. Software has also been developed for producers to individualize their data and calculate their own expected return. This software is available free of charge on the Mori-Essex Nurseries website.

Once producers are interested, and varieties have been found that satisfy the three requirements for successful production in Ontario, it is expected that rapid expansion of the hazelnut industry in Ontario will begin.

The end goal for Adam and his research team is to establish 10,000 - 20,000 acres of hazelnut trees in the province, though he adds the potential is much greater. "30,000 acres of hazelnuts is not unreal in Ontario," shares Adam. "There is a market for anything we produce."
This article is the first in a series on Ontario hazelnuts. Funding for this article was provided by the W.S. (Stan) Young Memorial Communications Grant through the OAC Alumni Foundation.

Morden NutS in Moose Jaw
Dennis Hue
Dennis Huel looking at seedling Black Walnuts in Parkbeg Saskatchewan at the farm of P.Simrose. The parents of these trees were part of a nut release program from seed from Morden Manitoba Experimental Station.

I have attached a couple of pictures that you may be interested to see. Explanation is a little long but I will try to be brief. In the fall of 2013,1 located a large walnut tree in the nearby city of Moose Jaw bearing a heavy crop of nuts. I went to the door hoping to get permission to collect nuts for planting but no one was home at the time. A couple of weeks later I was back in the city so I went to see if I could get some walnuts from the tree, and to my horror it had been cut down. In response, I contacted you (Ernie) and purchased some black walnut seed of the Morden and Minnesota Native sources. During the summer of 2014, ! was digging up info on walnuts on the internet and I came across your report in the SONG newsletter about your work distributing walnut seed from Morden to prairie growers and the follow up contacts. One of the trees was listed in the nearby village of Parkbeg that was planted by a Herman Simrose. I attempted to contact Mr. Simrose who was now listed in the phone directory as being located in Moose Jaw. I was unsuccessful, so I contacted P. Simrose on the farm in Parkbeg. It turns out P. Simrose Is Herman's nephew and the very elderly Herman was residing in Moose Jaw. Turns out the large tree in Moose Jaw, now cut down, was the tree listed as being in Parkbeg from your project. Apparently the neighbors were complaining that the nuts were plugging their eaves troughs so he cut it down. However, a couple of seedlings from H. Simrose's tree were planted at the farm of Ms nephew at Parkbeg. Obviously still very proud of the walnut trees, Herman met us at the farm to show us the trees. These are the trees in the pictures. The trees appear to be very well adapted although they were not producing nuts in 2014. The area where they were growing is a hour north of me and at least 500 feet higher in elevation. This site is likely at least one hardiness zone colder than my location.

Editors note: The original black walnut distribution by Ernie Grimo occurred over a two year period from 1977 and 1978. Country Guide magazine gave free advertising to attract seed nut recipients. Over 200 people from all over the prairies responded. Jim Coutts from Morden Mb collected the seed nuts and sent them to Grimo. Coutts is still growing black walnuts in Liberty, Saskatchewan.

Provided by SONG. Feel free to copy with a credit.