With Martin Hodgson
Growers and researchers are excited about the possibility of a lucrative new large acreage crop in Norfolk County and southern Ontario.
“They want all the nuts we can produce that meet their standards,” Hodgeson said.”
Hazelnuts are being touted as a potential agricultural game-changer spurred by the location of a world reaching market located in nearby Brantford.
Hazelnuts’ biggest booster locally is Martin Hodgson. Hodgson first got into hazelnuts in 1991 on his tobacco farm near Courtland. His first nuts appeared in 1997.
However, his crop began to fall victim to Eastern Filbert Blight, the bane of hazelnuts that almost wiped out the entire species. By 2003 he was down to about 150 trees scattered over 25 acres but when Ferrero came to the area his interest was renewed.