The hazelnut harvest in Piedmont is in its infancy. Lorenzo Brigante, who runs his family's farm, Cascina Malcotti, boasting about six hectares of hazelnut trees, reports that "I don't think I am exaggerating if I say that the harvest will be halved, although we will only be able to make considerations at the end of the campaign The year is looking tragic."

"The causes of this loss," he adds, "are to be attributed to the heavy drops in recent weeks, which can be traced back to the weather conditions. There was too much rain and low temperatures during specific growth phases. Without forgetting that the plants had already suffered the hailstorms and drought of the past few years."

Brigante is also a technician for the Agrion foundation, so he talks to many farmers and the outlook is the same. "The harvest of the Tonda Biglini variety started a week ago in the Alba (Cuneo) area, while we are at the beginning for the Tonda Gentile. In Alta Langa, however, we will start in a couple of weeks' time. Forecasts are unfortunately the same everywhere. Perhaps the youngest plants have suffered less, but this will not have much effect on the final figures."

Cascina Malcotti has all the equipment not only for harvesting, but also for cleaning and drying the produce. "We sell the produce directly, and a part we process so that we can sell roasted hazelnuts, flour and grain - which we obtain from a specialized laboratory - to the H&R channel."

The lack of produce will lead to a price increase, even if it is difficult to achieve an adequate gross saleable production in the field. "We are proceeding with the harvest even if the bad weather is hindering it in some areas," concludes Brigante.

Source - https://www.freshplaza.com