MANTUA, Ohio — Bob Stehli, owner of Wintergreen Tree Farm, has spent the past two decades developing his “super hybrid chestnut” variety, a mix of at least three varieties of chestnut, including the nearly extinct American chestnut.
While the chances of an American chestnut variety becoming a timber tree again is likely decades away, Stehli said, there is money to be made in chestnuts.
Start-up cost: $1,000 for seedlings; $500 to $1,000 annual maintenance costs after first year.
First yields: No production until the third year, collection starts by the fifth year, profit from nuts by eighth year.
Potential income: An average of 2,000 pounds per acre of high quality nuts can generate $5,000 to $6,000.
Stehli will host a presentation on super hybrid chestnuts for the Portage Soil and Water Conservation District at 6 p.m. Nov. 6 at the Portage County Ohio State Extension meeting room, 6970 State Route 88, Ravenna, Ohio.
For more information, call 330-297-7633 ext. 101 or email mwillett@portageswcd.org.
For more on Stehli and Wintergreen Tree farm, click here.
