On March 14, 2024 the USDA fully funded “Expanding the Market for Organic Chestnuts in the Northeast U.S.”, a collaboration between Breadtree Farms and a national coalition of partners to support the growth of the organic chestnut industry in the Northeast U.S.

About Breadtree

Breadtree Farms (founded in 2018) manages 600 acres in New York’s Upper Hudson Valley, including 250 acres of chestnut and hickory orchards designed to be grazed by sheep and cattle. We farm using certified-organic practices that reduce erosion, enhance water quality, improve wildlife habitat, and support a healthy climate. Click here to learn more about our work, or here to learn more about chestnuts.

About the Project

“Expanding the Market for Organic Chestnuts in the Northeast U.S.” will develop market pathways and infrastructure to reduce barriers-to-entry for current and aspiring organic chestnut farmers in the Northeast. We believe this project can create transformative opportunities for the region, and provide important resources for organic chestnut producers all over the country. Over the next 3 years, the project will include:

Technical support for current and aspiring chestnut farmers:

  • Host free on-farm workshops and webinars, and publish educational materials on topics including genetics, land assessment, new orchard design/implementation/management, business/financial planning, post-harvest handling and processing, marketing, support for organic transition and certification.

  • Offer free site consults & technical support to new or aspiring chestnut farmers, with priority for historically underserved farmers.

    Partners include Yellowbud Farm, Interlace Commons, Savanna Institute, and the Bennington County Conservation District.

Global study of best practices for chestnut processing and facility design:

  • Travel to regions with mature chestnut industries (Italy, France, Japan, Korea, Ohio), and domestic regions that produce chestnuts and analogous organic nut crops (Tennessee, Georgia, Ohio, Michigan). 

  • Produce technical development study that identifies scale-appropriate facility design, processing equipment and packaging materials for commercial-scale organic chestnut processing in the U.S.

  • Publish the findings of this study, along with open-source design and construction guidelines for mid-scale organic chestnut processing in the U.S.

Beginning development of new chestnut processing facility to serve regional growers:

  • Complete a first phase of renovations to historic barns in Salem, NY, which will become the largest organic chestnut processing facility in the U.S. with capacity for cleaning, sorting, drying, shelling, milling, and bagging chestnuts and chestnut flour. This facility will have over 1M lbs of annual throughput, and is intended to serve many other regional producers.

  • Building on the success of OMDG, in 2024-2025, Breadtree will pursue additional funding to support a second project that will focus on assembling a fleet of vehicles and equipment for aggregation and distribution, and development of dedicated cold storage.

Culinary development and outreach:

  • Engage chefs, culinary publications, food product companies, customers, and food buyers to grow cultural awareness and demand for domestic organic chestnuts and chestnut products. 

  • Collaborate with leading chefs and kitchens to develop new recipes and product formulations with chestnuts as a key ingredient.

    Partners include Blue Hill at Stone Barns and HowGood.

~10,000 sq ft barn complex in Salem, NY that will become the largest organic chestnut processing facility in the U.S.

Get involved

This project is all about building collaboration and connection across our growing industry. We are seeking to engage with:

  • current chestnut farmers who are looking to expand, or seeking paths to process and sell their produce

  • any farmers or agroforesters who are curious about growing chestnuts

  • land owners or land stewards 

  • chefs and culinary professionals

  • food journalists or influencers 

  • CPG / food brands interested in climate-adaptive ingredients

  • conservation districts or NGO’s interested in learning more about agroforestry

  • anyone we’re missing who would like to support the growth of a regenerative tree crops industry in the Northeast

If you are interested in learning more or participating in this project, please 👇

and follow us on Instagram for more frequent updates.

 

Thanks to the many project partners and co-signers who helped make this happen:

Interlace Commons, Savanna Institute, Regenerative Agriculture Foundation, Yellowbud Farm, HowGood, Blue Hill at Stone Barns, Stone Barns Center, Foodshed Foods, Simple Mills, Volgenau Climate Initiative, Terra Genesis International, Regenerative Design Group, Appleseed Permaculture, New York State Senator Michelle Hinchey, U.S. Congressman Marc Molinaro, NOFA-MA, NOFA-NY, American Farmland Trust, Agricultural Stewardship Association, Smokey House Center, Merck Forest & Farmland Center, Hudson Valley Farm Hub, Glynwood, Spark of Hudson, Vermont Farm to Plate, Martha & Hunter Grubb Foundation, HELM Construction Solutions, Larklea, Bennington NRCD, and 25+ current and aspiring chestnut farmers (you know who you are).