Oregon, over the last century, has relied on roughly a thousand families to plant and tend some 95,000-100,000 acres. This means that what they produce for the world market makes a difference. Terry Ross of the Hazelnut Growers Bargaining Association: “A lot of farm “When we set the price last September, we estimated harvest would weigh out at about 80,000 tons. The anecdotal estimates from growers and packers will probably end up being closer to last year’s crop that topped out at upwards of 76,000 tons or more.”
Asked how the health of the Oregon hazelnut industry looked moving into a new grow year, Ross paused before answering. “We didn’t expect other nut growers pricing to decline at the same time, so even as our price went down, we didn’t gain any advantage over other tree nut products --- the unfortunate situation applied to everyone.”
Looking at maintaining or even increasing hazelnut production over a 5-year short run remains dubious. “There’s potential over the next two years that you could see acreage decline as older, blighted orchards are removed at a much more rapid pace than has been in the past, with little increase in new acreage to offset that decline. I’d say it’s possible acreage will go backwards from what we have now and unless prices correct, somebody will end up exiting the marketplace because today’s pricing is not sustainable.”
Source: farmprogress.com