Farmers are facing increasing constraints on how they farm as the environmental limits of old farming systems are reached.

Hazelnut Growers Association chairman Murray Redpath says growing hazelnuts may be a viable alternative to conventional farming and orcharding; and to give an insight into hazelnut growing, a workshop will be held in Rotorua on Monday, June 13.

Murray Redpath is chairman of the Hazelnut Growers Association.

It is one of three workshops in the North Island to offer landowners, land use planners and food industry businesses that may be looking for local nut supplies a chance to meet, update themselves on the latest information on this new crop, and decide whether or not hazelnuts offer an opportunity for their business.

As well as the workshops, the Hazelnut Growers Association of NZ, supported by the Ministry for Primary Industries’ Sustainable Farming Fund and the NZ Tree Crops Association, are producing a series of information bulletins on key aspects of growing hazelnuts in New Zealand.

Nuts for life

“Medical research has shown nuts are an important part of a healthy diet. As the Nuts for Life website – at nutsforlife.com.au – states: “The health story for tree nuts continues to gain momentum following new research. Nuts every day can reduce your risk of developing heart disease and diabetes, but also help manage cholesterol and body weight”.

The Whiteheart variety of hazelnut.

“Temperate nuts were identified as a product group with significant potential for export to Asia in a 2014 Food and Beverage Taskforce report named ‘What Asia wants for Dinner Part 1’,” says Murray.

“That report suggested the opportunity existed for exports of temperate nuts worth between $30-100 million per annum,” says Murray, who has grown and researched hazelnuts for more than 30 years.

“We have grown and researched hazelnuts since 1982, with more than 30 selections in our variety area. Hazelnuts are suited to moister, temperate climates typical of most of New Zealand.

“While the New Zealand hazelnut industry has been dominated by orchards in Canterbury, research during the last 10 years has shown higher yields have been achieved in warmer areas such as Nelson.”

Waikato climate

It is likely the best hazelnut-growing areas have climates similar to the best apple-growing areas. The late summer droughts that have hit the Waikato during recent years actually produced ideal climatic conditions for high quality hazelnut production.

Murray says the environmental issues facing New Zealand farmers are not new. They were faced by European and American farmers long before they emerged in New Zealand and warnings were raised more than 10 years ago by Dr Morgan Williams, the Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment at the time.

“Not only are we facing increased scrutiny over the off-farm effects of our land use systems; we are also having to wrestle with adapting to a changing climate and the regulations that will inevitably follow as governments respond to political and market pressure to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

Diversify products

“When a catchment reaches the point at which it cannot increase livestock numbers without breaching the environmental limits, what options do landowners have to increase returns from their land?

“Do we continue to produce more of the same – apples, kiwifruit, wine – or should we try to diversify our product mix to fit to new, emerging food trends?

“We are warned that our commodity-based markets face increased volatility in a rapidly changing global marketplace. We are told we need to focus on supplying the world’s most affluent five per cent. So what’s the focus of these top end markets? It seems to be healthy, convenient food produced on farms using sound environmental practices.”

Nuts, and hazelnuts in particular, may be a new environmentally-friendly land use option that can feed into this affluent, health-conscious market, says Murray.

To register for the Rotorua workshop on Monday, June 13, from 10am-3pm at Rotorua Lakes Council Civic Centre, 1061 Haupapa St, Rotorua, email: wairataforestfarm@farmside.co.nz