Near Average Harvest in 2016

The 2016 Black Walnut Harvest is complete.

Buying at most locations ended on November 7, and some hullers continued for a few more days as harvesters brought in any remaining nuts they had picked up. While a few nuts are still coming in to the plant, it looks like we’ll end up with about 21 millions pounds from the fall harvest. This is up considerably from last year’s short crop of 10 million pounds, and near the historical average of 23 million. So we’re thankful.

Thousands of people enjoyed the dry and warm weather in October, picking up the wild nuts and delivering them to 220 hulling stations in 11 states. Southwest Missouri had the best crop as several operators we very busy most of the month. A few reported long lines during the middle part of the month. Other parts of the 11-state harvest area reported only moderate activity. We’re hopeful that those areas will show better crops in 2017, as we will need a good harvest then to keep the plant operating and meet growing customer demand.

Thanks to all who made this year’s 70th Anniversary harvest a success!