Chestnut growing in Michigan

Dennis Fulbright, Michigan State University Extension, Department of Plant Pathology -

Editor’s note: This article is from the archives of the MSU Crop Advisory Team Alerts. Check the label of any pesticide referenced to ensure your use is included.     

My laboratory at Michigan State University is involved in a long-term project to help growers establish chestnut orchards in the state. This program is dedicated to growing chestnut trees for the emerging chestnut industry in Michigan and other states.

If you are interested in bringing back the American chestnut tree, we have a research program on that, too. The center of activity for this research is at the Rogers Reserve, an MSU research farm working on chestnut research in Jackson. You can go to www.chestnutgrower.org for more information on growing chestnut trees in Michigan.

Basically, there are three groups involved in the nut industry in Michigan: The Michigan Nut Growers Association (MNGA), the Midwest Nut Producers Council (MNPC), and Chestnut Growers, Inc (CGI). The MNGA is the oldest and is a good group to start with. It holds its annual meeting the second Saturday in April each year. The meeting is held on campus in Farrall Hall, the ag engineering building on Shaw Lane. Anyone is welcome to attend and find out more about growing nut trees, including chestnuts in Michigan. The time of the meeting each year is 9:00 AM to 2:00 PM. The MNPC meeting follows this meeting from 2:30 PM to 5:00 PM and is currently dedicated to research on chestnuts. Mark your calendars if you are interested in growing nuts for fun or profit.

This article was published by Michigan State University Extension. For more information, visit https://extension.msu.edu. To have a digest of information delivered straight to your email inbox, visit https://extension.msu.edu/newsletters. To contact an expert in your area, visit https://extension.msu.edu/experts, or call 888-MSUE4MI (888-678-3464).

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