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A huller washes processed walnuts before depositing them into bulk dryers at Fedora Farms in Meridian on Friday.

A huller washes processed walnuts before depositing them into bulk dryers at Fedora Farms in Meridian on Friday.

Bringing walnuts from trees to grocery stores starts at Fedora Farms in Meridian. 

As the harvesting season continues through November, officials with both Fedora Farms and the Sutter Buttes Regional Land Trust held a tour of the facilities on Friday to demonstrate how walnuts are processed.

Brian Fedora is a fifth generation farmer who has seen his family’s land adapt to different crops and harvesting practices over the years. The farm has produced wheat, safflower and strawberries in the past, but it’s widely known for its 400 acres of walnut crops.

Fedora operates the farm with his brother, Chris, and father, Sib. In recognition of walnut season, Fedora Farms hosts tours of the family’s processing facility in partnership with the Regional Land Trust.

As a conservation group, the Regional Land Trust facilitates land easements for areas like Fedora Farms to preserve the land and protect it from development. Executive Director Lisa Lindman said that farmland protected under these easements is still owned and used by agricultural groups, and future owners are able to maintain the conservation partnership.

At Fedora Farms, walnut harvesting is a rough and mechanical job. 

“We are not like the Jelly Belly factory,” Brian Fedora said. “We don’t have plexiglass or wide walkways. This is all heavy, working machinery.”

The farm tour began in the huller where newly gathered walnuts are sorted by color and quality. Fedora said that after freshly gathered nuts are delivered to the huller, the machine is able to detect under ripe or damaged walnuts and separate them from the rest of the haul. 

The ripe walnuts are gently washed on a conveyor belt before being sent to industrial bulk dryers in the next room of the facility.

Due to their high oil content, walnuts need to be dried at an 8% moisture level to make them suitable for consumption. The dryers slowly heat the walnuts up to 108 degrees. If they are dried any higher, Fedora and his team risk boiling the oil inside each nut.

Each bulk dryer in the facility can hold up to 6,000 pounds of walnuts, Fedora said. Combined, Fedora Farms is able to dry 30 tons per hour. 

In 1996, Fedora and his family began expanding their production and spent three months building the farm’s first bulk dryer. As the farm continues to grow, Fedora has seen significant shifts in the harvesting process.

While the farm tour began in the huller, the harvesting process actually begins in the fields. Fedora demonstrated the use of a shaker, a machine that physically shakes over 95% of the walnuts out from the trees. The loose nuts are then swept into the field’s windrows where pickers gather them to be processed.

The machines shake each tree for 3-6 seconds depending on the size of the tree. Fedora said the machine operators shake nearly 30 acres of trees per day throughout the harvesting season.

Once walnuts are fully processed at Fedora Farms, the finished product is sent to various packing plants and other businesses who partner with the farm. Walnut harvesting season will continue until mid-November.

“We don’t stop until everything is done,” Fedora said.

A few passing clouds. Low 46F. Winds light and variable..

A few passing clouds. Low 46F. Winds light and variable.

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