Sept. 24, 2025
Sydney Widell – Coon Creek Community Watershed Council
Hazelnuts have been a cornerstone of traditional foodways and ecology in the Driftless Area for countless generations. Increasingly, farmers in the region are collaborating to bring these plants onto their farms for their diverse ecological benefits, and for their protein and fiber packed nuts.
Charles and Mary Jo Burke, who have grown corn and hay on their farm in Timber Coulee since the 1980s, made the shift to hazelnuts three years ago. The Burkes look forward to sharing more about their experiences with hazelnuts as hosts of the Coon Creek Community Watershed Council’s final outdoor meeting of the 2025 season, which is set for 6pm Oct. 1 at E7624 County Road P, Westby.
For the Burkes, growing hazelnuts is a way to diversify their farm, while also supporting the ecology of the land where they live.
The trees’ deep, perennial roots improve soil health and water infiltration, leading to reduced erosion and runoff. Birds and other wildlife love their nuts, which are high in protein, important vitamins, and healthy fats. The nuts are also delicious–on their own, ground as flour, or pressed as oil. But maybe most importantly, raising hazelnuts is something the Burkes love to do together.
“We really have fun,” Mary Jo Burke said. “And we are trying to find something that, once it’s established, our kids and grandkids can do.”
The Burkes are taking up hazelnut cultivation at a moment when the demand for the nuts is expanding rapidly across the globe, with private consulting firms predicting a compound annual growth rate of 6.5% for the $8.8 billion industry by 2032. But despite the long history of hazelnuts in the Midwest and the trees’ resilience to climate extremes, only a small share of nuts on the market are grown here.
As the hazelnut movement takes root in Western Wisconsin, Charles Burke sees high start-up costs, like specialized tree hybrids and harvesting equipment, as a limiting factor for would-be hazelnut growers. He is hopeful that expanding awareness of and participation in hazelnut growing systems will help make the cropping practice more accessible.
“The whole thought would be, if you can get a group of people together who are interested in raising hazelnuts, you have a community, and you can pool your time and talent and equipment,” Charles Burke said.
For the Burkes and others in the Driftless Area, raising hazelnuts is just as much about cultivating trees as it is cultivating a thriving local food system. The Burkes collaborate with Hazel Heart Farms, a collective of Midwest hazelnut farmers working to develop local hazelnut supply chains by aggregating hazelnuts from small farms around the Upper Midwest and turning them into products like oil, flour, roast nuts, and trail mixes.
“We saw this company as an opportunity to transform the Midwestern landscape – fighting climate change on a meaningful scale while building local food systems and introducing the world to these incredible nuts,” Hazel Heart Farms writes on their website.
Leaders from Hazel Heart Farms will be at the Oct. 1 meeting to share more about their grower collective, and to share samples of their hazelnut products.
Guests at the October CCCWC meeting will also have an opportunity to learn about the specialized hazelnut hybrids the Burkes are trialing on their land, and to walk the rows of hazelnuts they planted this season.
The Burkes practice alley cropping, a method for integrating trees like hazelnuts into fields where other crops are growing. In alley cropped systems, trees are planted in rows with enough space between the rows for other crops to flourish.
The CCCWC is pleased to support the Burkes and others planting trees in the Coon Creek Watershed, thanks to a grant from The Nature Conservancy. Coon Creek Watershed residents interested in planting hazelnuts, or other trees should contact the CCCWC to learn what cost share opportunities may be available to them. Information about cost share for trees is available on the CCCWC website, and will be discussed at the Oct. 1 CCCWC meeting.
The Oct. 1 CCCWC meeting will start at 6 p.m. with a tour of the Burke farm, followed by dinner and discussion at 6:45 p.m. Pack a lawn chair, and help the CCCWC reduce waste by packing your own picnicware. As always, CCCWC events are free and all are welcome.
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