Beyond the wild nut: moving toward profitable black walnut nut crops

Currently, about 2 million pounds of black walnut nutmeats are consumed annually, requiring about 26 million pounds of wild in-shell nuts (hulled, wet weight). Walnuts from wild trees are variable in quality, yield, and moisture, reducing the amount of good, salable nutmeats produced. Consequently, the price that can be paid to the harvester/producer is limited. Improved varieties of black walnut trees differ from wild trees in that they are typically planted in orchards, produce nuts more consistently and the nuts have higher percent kernel yield and quality. Thus, the price on such improved nuts can be higher. The black walnut industry (Hammons Products Company) has developed quality guidelines whereby growers of improved varieties can receive more for nuts with higher nutmeat yields and desirable characteristics. High yield of good quality nutmeats is the key to profitable nut crops.