Farmers hope to make New Jersey the hazelnut capital of America

A small but widening group of pioneers are working to make hazelnuts as much of a signature New Jersey crop as tomatoes and corn.

By: Dana DiFilippo

Outlets: New Jersey Monitor

Published: June 16, 2026

Words: 1,941

Last Updated: 1 week, 1 day ago

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RINGOES — The first time Ozgur Tunceli planted hazelnut saplings on her Hunterdon County farm, deer came through and ate them to the ground.

The next time, her goats did the same.

“Imagine me sitting there and crying and regretting everything that I did,” she said. “I said, ‘I should sell this farm and just go back to my suburban life.’”

Instead, she got an electric fence. Now, four years after …

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