When hazelnut prices steeply declined in 2022, it became one of the worst years Dennis Melcher had seen in the industry.
Melcher said he lost money that year on his Barcelona hazelnuts, and a lot of Oregon growers weren’t fortunate enough to break even.
“When you adjust for inflation, it was the worst price we’ve seen in 40 years,” said Terry Ross, executive director for the Hazelnut Growers Bargaining Association.
Melcher lost money on the farm that year. A store he had started 20 years before, however, brought in larger profit margins because the kernels he buys to make various hazelnut products came at a lower price.
Melcher, who had been a women’s basketball coach for North Marion High School and Chemeketa Community College, took over his parent’s St. Paul farm — Ken & June’s Hazelnuts — in 1982, expanding it to 400 acres of hazelnuts at its peak. He now farms hazelnuts on 55 acres. He has sold some property and leases the rest.
