NEW PHILADELPHIA,

Ohio – It’s no secret that

producers everywhere are

looking for that extra niche

to help them pad their bank

account, whether it’s agritourism,

a new specialty

crop or simply an off-thefarm,

money-making hobby.

A few venturous producers

across all states in the

lower 48 have become full

or part-time tree farmers,

many of them concentrating

on the Christmas Tree market.

But one tree in particular

is garnering lots of attention

the past five years – the

black walnut.

Ten miles outside of New

Philadelphia, you’ll find 20

acres of black walnut trees

flanking fields of corn and

soybeans. The owners of

that tree orchard, Randall

Elder, 72, and his son, David,

46, refer to the trees as

“David’s Walnut IRA.”

“My father was tending

to his 30 acres of corn, soybeans

and some sheep at

the time and for unknown

reason he had another 20

acres of rich, untilled land

that was left untouched,”

Randall said. “Neighboring

farmers thought dad was a

bit strange when he started

planting walnuts in a 12-

foot by 12-foot grid with the

intention of covering that

open acreage with these

trees. His dream was to have

tall-standing walnut trees to

harvest in the future.”

That future is now, but

it didn’t all happen without

a lot of work and planning.

As the plants grew he had

to gradually thin them to a

wider spacing.

“With the high price of

black walnut logs, David

has enough walnut acreage

to become a millionaire,”

Randall said.

According to experts at

Yoder Lumber Co., of Parkersburg,

W.V., black walnut

trees, when planted to maximize

tree growth, can grow

as much as 3-4 feet per year

in good soil, reaching a mature

height of more than

100 feet and 30-40 inches

in diameter, with 16-inch

diameter logs ready to harvest

in 30 years.

Black walnut logs bring

premium prices and have

since the 1700s, with single

trees bringing up to

$20,000. Bruce Thompson,

author of “Black Walnut For

Profit,” estimates a mature

stand of black walnut trees

can bring about $100,000

per acre in timber value

alone. The fine, straightgrained

wood is used for

furniture, veneer and gunstocks.

Black walnut trees are

native to the central and

eastern United States, but

also do well in other parts of

the country, and are grown

for both nuts and timber.

Randall’s father used

the process called “agroforestry,”

which uses double

cropping of trees with pasture

crops for harvesting or

livestock grazing. Trees are

planted in widely spaced

rows, at about 100 trees per

acre, with other crops between

the rows. In addition

to pasture crops, his father

grew high-value crops of

raspberries and blueberries.

Agroforestry can provide

income four different ways.

For the first few years, the

only income is from the crop

planted between the trees.

As the trees become larger,

they are thinned for nut production,

with the wood from

the thinning being sold.

Then, the nuts produce additional

income. When the

remaining thinned trees are

mature, they are harvested

for veneer logs.

“The thinning encourages

rapid growth of the best

trees and removes less than

perfect trees,” Randall said.

“The culled trees bring premium

prices, even in small

sizes.”

Culls are cut into 3-foot

lengths and dried for gunstock

blanks, which can

bring as much as $300

each. To utilize even smaller

sections of cull walnut logs

such as limbs, manufacturers

are using them for

items like pen holders, paperweights

and bookends.

According to the Mountain

Lumber Co., of Crozet, Va.,

for these uses, rough knotty

wood is just as good as the

high grade logs. A company

representative adds that the

average return from a stand

of walnut trees is 14 percent

a year, with no taxes due

until harvest.

“That beats returns on

bonds, stocks and most

other investments handily,”

David said, “and with intercropping,

growers can even

produce an income while

the walnut trees continue

to grow. Growing these trees

take time and patience,

make no doubt, but a living

legacy of walnut trees can

be a priceless gift for children

and grandchildren. I’m

proof of that.”

The nuts have become

another money-maker for

the Elder family. Black walnut

harvesting is going on

now and the current prices

is $16 per 100 pounds

(after hulled) west of the

Mississippi River, and $15

per 100 pounds east of the

Mississippi River. Hammons

Black Walnuts hosts

many traveling hulling and

purchasing stations across

each state in the Midwest.

In Indiana, for example,

there are 20 such stations.

Kentucky has 23 stations,

while Ohio has 13. Michigan

and Tennessee each

have six Hammons stations.

For locations of these states

in each state go to https://

black-walnuts.com/.

“It’s true, a walnut orchard

like ours can take a

few decades to come into full

production, but then produces

up to 6,000 pounds

of nuts per acre,” Randall

said. “While waiting for the

trees to fully mature they’re

still providing you with an

income with their nuts.”