It is with pride and pleasure that we present the final report “Growing Hazelnuts – A New Zealand Field Trial” written by Alison Bentley, HGANZ Committee member, and farmer who owns a 6.2 Ha block near Rotorua.
Alison has a significant background in horticulture, farming and complex growing systems, as well as business management. She has a Diploma in Horticulture, a graduate Diploma in Resource Management, a post-graduate Certificate in Commerce, is a Kellogg Scholar – and is contemplating a Masters in Horticulture. The farm is run on regenerative and organic principals, starting with soil health, which flows through to plant and animal health. More details of Alison’s farm and farming practices can be found at https://tikiterefarm.co.nz/ .
The background to Alison’s hazelnut journey begins with the Bay of Plenty Regional Council and its plans to divert landowners away from animal farming because of the high rate of nutrient leaching into the Rotorua lake systems. Alison was interested in finding other ways to use her land, reduce nutrient leaching, and produce a commercial crop. She did her research, and decided that hazelnuts were a crop with potential. She submitted a proposal to the Low Nitrogen Land Use Fund Project (LNLUF), and it was accepted. Funding was awarded for a five year field trial (later extended to seven years).
The first objective was to determine if hazelnuts would grow in the Rotorua catchment. The second was to compare Whiteheart with the Tonda Romana and Jefferson cultivars. Collection of pollination data was the third objective, and the fourth was to investigate the effect of irrigation on hazelnut production. Finally, her orchard had to be available for public enquiry, and the results be freely accessible.
Below you will find the link to her report. We hope you will take the time to read it and enjoy the transformation of a field into a micro-orchard. Along the way, Alison has brought her academic and practical background to bear on the many questions facing the hazelnut industry. This is also the story of one person with a question, who set out to find an answer and made something happen.