The hazelnut industry in the Midwest is still in its infancy, but researchers and farmers are working together to make it a reality. Between the University of Wisconsin and the University of Minnesota, experts developed the Upper Midwest Hazelnut Development Initiative.
“It’s a long name for a small group that is working hard to create a hazelnut industry here in the Midwest,” says Graham Cassellius of Cassell Hollow Farm in Vernon County. When he bought the 34-acre farm more than a decade ago, he inherited about 3,500 hazelnut trees. It took a few years for him to decide that it was time to start making something with those hazelnuts.
But it wasn’t easy — growing a unique specialty crop in Wisconsin comes with challenges. Luckily, he had help from the Upper Midwest Hazelnut Development Initiative.
“It’s a very small bush with very small nuts, but it’s crazy hardy,” says Cassellius. “It’ll survive wildfires and blizzards and all these things, and it’ll grow for up to 100 years out in the wild with no care at all, but the nuts are kind of small and intermittent yield.”
To improve the crop, researchers are crossing native varieties with European hazelnuts, which are larger and more consistent producers but cannot survive Midwest winters. The Upper Midwest Hazelnut Development Initiative has been working on this hardy Midwestern version of the hazelnut plant for more than a decade, he explains.
Because hazelnuts are an emerging crop, he says it’s not like corn — there’s no book to say how many growing degree days, rain, or nitrogen will give you a certain yield. But Cassellius has noticed a few weather characteristics that hazelnuts thrive on that growers are documenting. This year was one of those years.
“The nice consistent rains that we’ve had, they like it,” he says. “The clusters of hazelnuts on the bushes right now are filling in. I’ll be harvesting end of August here. I’ll start picking. So right now the kernel’s developing inside the shell, but they didn’t get knocked down by the heat.”
Marketing
When it comes to marketing, Midwest hazelnuts are finding several outlets, including food products. Cassell Hollow Farm is going in a different direction, focusing on the crop’s value in personal care products.
“The market for skincare oil is a lot higher. That’s what we tried to focus on,” Cassellius says.
In 2023, he launched a hazelnut oil skincare line with its pure filtered hazelnut oil. It has further developed the product into beard oil and tattoo maintenance oil.
“We want to have a product that people are really excited to use. So we’re focusing on beard oils and tattoo maintenance because those are things that people have chosen to express themselves. So if we can be the product that helps your tattoo stay vibrant and bold for longer and help it look its best, that’s a lot more fun.”
He’s taken his product to the Madison Tattoo Festival in September. The event brings more than 200 tattoo artists from around the world to Wisconsin’s capital for three days of tattooing, art, and entertainment. Attendees will have the chance to get tattooed by both traveling and local artists, with many appointments booked in advance and daily opportunities for walk-up tattoos on a first-come, first-served basis.
For those not planning to get inked, the festival also offers merchandise sales and live contests to watch artists at work. Tattoo artists can shop for supplies from vendors, while each day will feature a “tattoo of the day” competition.
Learn more about the farm: https://cassellhollowfarm.com/
Learn more about the festival: https://madisontattoofestival.com/
