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The newly patented “Hickman” Walnut is a key step toward expanding Missouri’s black walnut industry, offering greater economic opportunities for growers through improved nut production. After a quarter of a century of development, the University of Missouri Center for Agroforestry made a significant step toward a long-term goal of furthering the black walnut industry in Missouri with a recent patent for its first black walnut cultivar — The UMCA® “Hickman” Walnut. “One of our goals is to generate a regional tree nut industry for Missouri,” said MU Center for Agroforestry Interim Director Ron Revord. “We are really well-positioned to do this with our River Hills soils and favorable climate, especially in comparison to the broader Midwest.” Development of the UMCA “Hickman”® began with Dr. Mark Coggeshall, former faculty in the Center for Agroforestry. Coggeshall led the Black Walnut Improvement Program from the early 2000s until Revord took over the project in 2019. UMCA® “Hickman” was chosen as the first cultivar to be patented within the species for kernel production — for food production as opposed to timber production — because its characteristics make it uniquely suited to tree nut orchard production. In particular, this cultivar showed high rates of spur-bearing. Ultimately, this means that the tree produces more nuts for harvest, especially earlier in its life, giving producers opportunity for improved return on investment. |
