40 NUTS nfrom pg 39


ounces of nuts an hour. “I separate the nutmeat by dumping cracked nuts onto a box outfitted with two different-sized removable screens to sift out the small nut pieces. Then I have to put the leftovers back into the cracker for re-cracking,” explains Dureault. “It’s not economically feasible to process black walnuts by hand as the foundation for a profitable business. I’d like to set up a professional, small- scale commercial nut processing facility to add value to my own crop as well as provide a service to other local nut growers. There are about a dozen growers in the Okanagan Valley who have shown interest in my ability to help them with processing nuts.”


Processing challenges While the 40 hazelnut


growers in BC send their nuts to Fraser Valley Hazelnuts for processing, part of the supply chain for Oregon processors, no similar facility exists for black walnut growers. Dureault reached out to Fraser Valley Hazelnuts, which told her it only processes hazelnuts. Most equipment is


designed for large-scale operations or other walnuts, and is too costly for operations the size of Curly Frog, so Dureault approached UBC Okanagan. UBCO consistently looks for


real-life projects for senior engineering students to tackle, solving a challenge from concept and design to


COUNTRY LIFE IN BC • FEBRUARY 2020


Black walnuts are interspersed with Christmas trees. MYRNA STARK LEADER PHOTO


finished product. Dureault hoped students could develop equipment that could process 75 to 100 pounds (or more) of black walnuts an hour. This included a machine to hull and clean the nuts, a cracking machine capable of cracking 600 to 900 lbs of black walnuts an hour and a sorting machine to separate shell from nutmeat once they are cracked.


Student Alex Russell stepped up and worked on the project with a team of students. “I picked this project from 40 options because with farming, you actually needed to create a tangible thing. And we were also helping someone in the community,” says Russell. “It’s definitely an


improvement and cracks


English walnuts beautifully. Some fine-tuning is needed to size the machine to crack smaller nuts like hazelnuts and more engineering is required to determine motor size and RPM to achieve the force of 500 foot-pounds required to crack black walnuts,” says Dureault showing off her new equipment. Unfortunately, time


constraints only let the students build the cracker the first year so she’s gone back. “The second project is a machine that separates nutmeat from shell as well as to fine-tune/modify the cracker. I’m told they have a prototype already built and tested on English walnuts,” Dureault says. Dureault encourages other


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producers to look at students who can offer a fresh perspective, especially when a project’s scope is beyond their capabilities or annual farm income is below the $30,000 required to obtain matching funds from the province. “I’d like to set up a


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professional, small-scale commercial nut processing facility to add value to my own crop as well as provide a service to other local nut growers. There are about a dozen growers in the Okanagan Valley who have shown interest in my ability to help them with processing nuts,” she says. Working with the students taught her more critical thinking and problem solving, how to communicate her ideas and patience. She says it’s a slower process, but economical. As the client, she also owns the design rights and blueprints for her new machine and she made new friends and connections. “It gives me hope that there


are young people interested in agriculture,” she says. “One of the students told me that this project was one of the hardest to do but had the most learning opportunity as it was all hands-on and relevant.’”


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