Rutgers University Hybrid Hazelnut Field Day

Join Dr. Tom Molnar and his hazelnut research colleagues to learn about hybrid hazelnuts and the Rutgers University hazelnut breeding and research program at the 2010 Rutgers Hazelnut Field Day.   The field day will include an overview of hazelnuts at Rutgers and presentations on the Arbor Day Foundations's hazelnut research program and the Hybrid Hazelnut Consortium, the Ferrero Candy Company in Italy,  and experiences of local hazelnut growers assisting in research projects.  Lunch and an afternoon tour of the hazelnut research fields are included.

Date: July 31st, 2010

Start Time: 8:30 am

End Time: 3:00 pm

Free 3 to 4 foot Purple Leafed Hazelnut for the first 40 people to register.

Who Should Attend:

Farmers in New Jersey and surrounding states interested in hazelnuts or new potential low-input crops

Arbor Day Foundation Hazelnut Members

Extension agents, horticulturists, master gardeners, people interested in nut trees, etc.

Background about Commercial Hazelnuts and Hazelnuts in the Mid-Atlantic Region

Hazelnuts, also known as filberts, are currently only produced commercially in the United States in the Willamette Valley of Oregon. However, research and breeding at Rutgers is changing this scenario. Hazelnuts, compared to other species, are a very low-input crop, needing very little to no supplemental irrigation, pesticide or fungicides. They can be grown on a diversity of soil types, including those that are less than ideal. Hazelnuts are widely adapted, and depending on the cultivar, can be very cold hardy. In regions such as New Jersey, the Mid-Atlantic and much of the fruit belt of the eastern U.S. and southern Canada, many hazelnuts would thrive. However, the presence of a disease called Eastern Filbert Blight has made growing hazelnuts as a commercial venture in this region nearly impossible; that is, until only very recently.

Schedule of Events (Tentative):

8:30  Sign in, cookies, coffee, etc.

9:15  Welcome by Dr. Brad Hillman, Director of the NJAES

9:30  Overview of hazelnuts and the Rutgers program – Tom Molnar

10:00 Arbor Day hazelnut research and H.H.C. – Ben Cohoon

10:30 Break

10:50 Quality in hazelnuts for the Ferrero candy company - Michele Pisetta

11:30 Hazelnuts from a grower’s perspective – Jeff Z. & Peter H.

12:00  Lunch and then travel to HF3 research farm by carpool

1:30-3:00 Field tours led by Tom Molnar and John Capik.  Here we will discuss Rutgers hazelnut breeding program objectives and progress.  Observe trees from one year up to nine years old in research production trials and breeding nurseries.  See Eastern Filbert Blight up close.

Rutgers University Hazelnut Breeding Program

Hazelnut research and breeding at Rutgers was initiated in 1996. Rutgers is confident by the end of this decade, due to our breeding and research, there will be small to medium scale orchards of hazelnuts being grown for nut production in New Jersey, the surrounding states.

Hybrid Hazelnut Consortium

The Hybrid Hazelnut Consortium is working together to develop hybrid hazelnuts into a sustainable crop for much of United States and Southern Canada. The four institutions/ organizations that make up the Consortium include: Arbor Day Foundation, Oregon State University, Rutgers University, and University of Nebraska.

The goal of the Hybrid Hazelnut Consortium is to create a world leading research and breeding program to develop hazelnuts as a widely adapted, high-yielding and low-input sustainable crop that is competitive with annual crops for food, feed or bio-energy.