Black Walnut Times Are Just Ahead

By Robert J. Korpella

09-26-2008

To folks in the Ozarks, they are either a nuisance or gold. It’s time for black walnut trees to begin shedding their fruit and many Ozarkers will be out there rounding up as many as they possibly can.

Those that see the green, slightly-larger-than-a-golf-ball sized spheres as a nuisance probably just have one or two trees on the property and have to pick up the nut and hull before mowing the lawn.

But those that see it as a money making opportunity try to find and collect as many pickup loads as possible before heading to a collection station to get cash for the crop. This year, it appears that crop will fetch a record high price of $13 per hundred pounds after hulling. While that sounds like a decent price, a lot of hard work goes into locating and collecting that many walnuts.

Brian Hammons, president of Hammons Products Company in Stockton says the goal for this year’s harvest is “25 million pounds.” He said that would make this year’s harvest surpass last year’s by 83 percent. The wet spring and early summer were probably contributing factors to that increase.

Missouri is the nation’s largest producer of black walnuts with 65 percent of the total harvest. Which is why Hammons Products hosts 70 drop off sites in the state.

The first day of the black walnut season is October 1 as hulling stations open their doors. To find a hulling station near you, just visit http://www.black-walnuts.com.