Walnut harvest three times last year's

STOCKTON, Mo. -- This year's black walnut harvest was big, and it was valuable.

With the harvest winding down, the national yield is expected to be around 30 million pounds, nearly triple the 11 million pound harvest from last year.

The increase was in response to a booming demand that prompted Hammons Products Co. in Stockton to pay a record-high price of $13 per 100 pounds of hulled black walnuts to gatherers in a four-state region. The price last year was $10 per hundredweight.

The company paid the higher price to encourage walnut-pickers to gather more nuts, said Brian Hammons, president and CEO of Hammons Products.

"Our customers didn't have nearly as many nuts as they needed to have," Hammons said. "We figured if an extra dollar or two is what people needed, then we were willing to provide that."

Hammons estimated the company will pay about $5 million to the walnut gatherers and to operators of buying and hulling stations.

"People are resourceful," Hammons said. "They see the natural harvest we've been blessed with and pick up the money that literally falls from the trees."

Hammons Products sells the walnuts to grocers, food companies, food service and candy companies. The hard outer shell is used for a sandblasting medium or a glue extender for the plywood industry.

The company operates two hulling machines and provides other machines for operators, who collect and hull the walnuts. With the harvest winding down, most the buying stations are closed. Hammons' Stockton buying spot is open year-round.

Hammons gets black walnuts from 15 states, but Missouri produces 65 percent to 70 percent of the harvest.