Ontario Hazelnut Production must grow to supply Ferrero Roche

Mar 25, 2014

More than 120 people are attending today’s hazelnut conference in Brantford, Ontario. "Moving Hazelnuts to Commercial Production" is a full-day conference aimed at advancing the production of hazelnuts in Ontario.

Speakers from Yoso Foods and Cocomira Foods presented insights and information on their businesses and their views of the growing market for hazelnut based products, including milk and chocolate products. Speakers from the University of Guelph projected a need for 16,000 acres of hazelnuts in Ontario.

2014 Hazelnut conference

Anchored by the demand from the Ferrero Rocher plant in Brantford, Ontario, John Kelly, director for the Ontario Hazelnut Association (OHA), suggests that the Ontario production could grow to $80 million per year.

The conference will also include the Annual General Meeting for the OHA .More information can be found on the Ontario Hazelnut Association Website.

View Photo Album of the 2014 Ontario Hazelnut Conference.

Video: Evolution of Beef Cattle Farming

The Clear Conversations podcast took to the road for a special episode recorded in Nashville during CattleCon, bringing listeners straight into the heart of the cattle industry. Host Tracy Sellers welcomed rancher Steve Wooten of Beatty Canyon Ranch in Colorado for a wide-ranging discussion that blended family history and sustainability, particularly as it relates to the future of beef production.

Sustainability emerged as a central theme of the conversation, a word that Wooten acknowledges can mean very different things depending on who you ask. For him, sustainability starts with the soil. Healthy soil produces healthy grass, which supports efficient cattle capable of producing year after year with minimal external inputs. It’s an approach that equally considers vegetation, animal efficiency, and long-term profitability.

That philosophy aligned naturally with Wooten’s involvement in the U.S. Roundtable for Sustainable Beef, where he served as a representative for the Colorado Cattlemen’s Association. The roundtable brings together the entire beef supply chain—from producers to retailers—along with universities, NGOs, and allied industries. Its goal is not regulation, Wooten emphasized, but collaboration, shared learning, and continuous improvement.