SYRACUSE, N.Y. — The Northern Nut Growers Association (NNGA) and the Chestnut Growers of America (CGA) will hold a joint conference July 21 to 24 at the Collegian Hotel and Suites in Syracuse in cooperation with the SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry (ESF) The 3-day program will feature two days of talks on propagation, establishing, orchard management, processing, and value-added marketing for nut trees, especially chestnut and hazelnut, plus field tours of the ESF research facilities and local nut tree orchards in the Finger Lakes region of New York. The conference is open to anyone with an interest in nut-producing trees whether a small or large tree grower, a consumer, or a processor.
“We welcome the opportunity to showcase our research and field programs applying tools of biotechnology to American chestnut and other forest trees for disease resistance and restoration,” says Andrew Newhouse, Director of ESF’s American Chestnut Research and Restoration Project. “With increasing threats to our native forests, we need to evaluate biotechnology alongside other tools if we hope are to bring back iconic species such as American chestnut.”
The early part of the conference will focus on presentations from local, national, and international experts and group discussions on such diverse topics as breeding, propagation, orchard establishment and management, harvesting and processing, value-added marketing, and health benefits of chestnut, hazelnut, walnuts, and the other temperate nut and native fruit trees. ‘We have worked hard to attract highly qualified speakers and exhibitors to this conference,” says Jerry Henkin, NNGA Librarian and Conference Program Coordinator.
The final day of the conference, will include field tours of ESF facilities and plantings followed by field tours to three nut tree growers/processors in the Finger Lakes region. “We have seen a growing interest in chestnut and hazelnut, especially as part of several agroforestry practices, as a result of new funding programs,” says Jeff Zarnowski, former Field Manager for the ESF chestnut project, cooperator with the New York Tree Crops Alliance Cooperative, and, with Dawn Zarnowski, operates Z’s Nutty Ridge Orchard and Nursery. “The design and operation of several processing facilities within the area will also be a strong contributor to making nuts profitable for growers in the future.”
To learn more about the program and schedule of events for the July 21 to 25 joint NNGA/CGA conference, go to https://nutgrowing.org/annual-conference-2024/. If you have questions, ask at [email protected]. To register for the conference, go to https://bit.ly/nngacga2024. To reserve lodging at the conference center, go to https://bit.yl/grouprate2024. And finally, to learn more about each organization and benefits of membership, go to the NNGA website at https://nutgrowing.org or to the CGA website at http://www.chestnutgrowers.org.
–Northern Nut Growers Association and Chestnut Growers of America
