The viability of walnuts and hazelnuts as commodity crops for UK farmers

This study was undertaken in reaction to a sequence of problems faced by UK farmers. The first is that global cereal prices are inadequate to sustain farming businesses without government support. The second, that government support is subject to the election cycle – which is too short term and volatile to give us the confidence to invest in it. And finally, the environmental expectations and challenges for farmers are only increasing. 

My research aim was to find: A high value crop, with a low labour requirement that would yield in a changing climate. 

Such a search led me to investigate everything from apples, pears, soft fruit, asparagus and novel grains before centring on walnuts and hazelnuts for two reasons. One, they are perennial and therefore less affected by annual weather patterns and two, non-perishable, which increases the marketing window and assists mechanisation of their production systems. The other criteria for this study were that these crops had to be produced already in the UK, to reference available data points.

I have formulated two conclusions. Walnuts will not work, they are naturalised to the UK ,not native, and so productivity is unreliable, but more importantly the global market is one of oversupply, consolidation and low prices. However, hazelnuts are not just native, but prolific in the UK. They exist within a thriving commodity market driven not just by advancements in agronomics, genetics and mechanisation; but by necessity, as existing producer countries struggle with climate instability while producing their crops. In 2025, the world produced approximately 35% less hazelnuts than in 2024 with countries such as Spain and Italy facing consistent downward trends in productivity over a number of years. 

The UK is well placed – because of our more temperate climate, to capture some of this lost production. However, the opportunity is much larger than simply replacing lost production. Across Europe many orchards are over 20 years old, using inferior varieties, designed in outdated ways and producing suboptimal crops. The UK has a unique advantage of being able to take the best practice from across the world’s different production systems, and apply it in within our own context. 

However, there are barriers preventing UK adoption of hazelnut production. Not because of production, but because of producers. Success in this sector will depend upon both standardisation of production (growing the same varieties at the same specification) and centralisation of processing (to enter the market at a competitive scale). This is because you don’t process a hazelnut to add value, you process it to access the market, and therefore doing so at the lowest possible cost per unit, is imperative. 

 As a result of this study, I and a group of farmers have formed the British Hazelnut Association and won funding through the ADOPT innovation grant to undertake a nationwide varietal trial across 20 farms in the UK, ensuring we understand how different varieties react in specific UK climates. By understanding optimal genetics (meeting market specification requirements) we will be able to begin piecing together a competitive and sustainable production system which can be replicated broadly across the UK, for UK farmers.