Nut growers conference comes to Michigan in August

Michigan will host an opportunity for nut producers, hobbyists and researchers as the Northern Nut Growers Association and Chestnut Growers of America bring their joint annual meeting to Lansing and Owosso from Aug. 3-6.

The conference will feature field tours, technical sessions, networking events and a full-day industry bus tour, all designed to support Midwestern growers involved in chestnut, hazelnut, hickory, and other nut tree crops. It’s one of the only national nut events to take place in the Great Lakes region in recent years.

The event begins Sunday, Aug. 3, with nursery and orchard tours at Nash Nurseries in Owosso, followed by a welcome dinner and lightning-talk presentations. Monday and Tuesday sessions will be held at the DoubleTree by Hilton in downtown Lansing, with presentations focused on propagation, breeding, orchard management, harvest equipment, processing techniques and value-added marketing.

A live auction fundraiser to support nut-tree research is scheduled for Monday evening. On Tuesday night, a banquet will close out the technical sessions.

The conference concludes Wednesday, Aug. 6, with a full-day chartered bus tour. Attendees will visit Chestnut Growers Inc. in Clarksville, Beyer’s Orchard in Paw Paw and Michigan State University’s Rogers Reserve in Jackson, which is home to the state’s only mechanized chestnut-peeling line and nut processing kitchen.

Conference pricing, lodging information and registration details are available online. Banquet tickets and conference T-shirts are also available for purchase during registration.

Organizers encourage Michigan nut growers to take advantage of the chance to connect with the broader tree nut industry without traveling out of state.