How to Succeed in Chestnut Farming: Operational Maturity | United Chestnuts
April 4, 2026
We sit down with Sandy Russell to discuss the realities of scaling a chestnut orchard. We cover the shift from planting trees to managing the 90% of the work that happens after the harvest.
In this episode, you will learn:
– Why growing the nut is only 10% of the job
– How to implement farm-level discipline for cooling and grading
– The hidden dangers of blind aggregation
– Why sharing post-harvest standards protects small farms
– Lessons from the dairy industry on scaling and market pressure
Subscribe to Branching Out: Growing Together, leave a comment with your thoughts on post-harvest handling, and visit unitedchestnuts.com to access more grower resources!
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