New ‘Durham’ Walnut Offers Earlier Harvest
April 13, 2016 
‘Durham’ offers a plump, light-colored kernel and smooth, attractive shell.
Photo by Chuck Leslie
A new walnut out of the University of California, Davis (UC Davis) breeding program is now available to growers.
‘Durham’ is a relatively late leafing variety, which makes it better for blight avoidance compared to many of the other recently released walnut varieties, according to Chuck Leslie, UC Davis Walnut Improvement Program Director. This makes it especially well suited to the Sacramento Valley, where there’s more spring rain.
‘Durham’ also harvests about 10 days earlier than ‘Chandler,’ which helps alleviate the problem of the majority of walnut production coming in at the same time. Currently about 70% to 80% of walnuts are ‘Chandler,’ which creates issues with the use of harvesting machinery and drying capacity.
One of the new nut’s most promising attributes is its light kernel color. “Kernel color is a very important component of the marketing and the value in the nuts, and particularly now that prices have gone down in the last year or two,” Leslie says. “It’s much easier to sell, and the prices are holding better on light-colored kernels.”
He adds that ‘Durham’ also offers a very plump kernel, and well-filled nuts mean greater yield per nut.
The nut also has an attractive, light-colored, smooth shell. Although the in-shell market is not what it used to be, Leslie says this variety has the potential to be quite valuable in-shell.
Grower Feedback
The UC Davis breeding program holds an annual meeting that includes nursery representatives, farm advisors, and growers interested in evaluating new varieties, and Leslie says the consensus from those in attendance was that ‘Durham’ should be released.
The variety has performed very well in trials in Chico and Durham (hence the name). “There are several growers up there who have tried it and like it, again, primarily for the color, the later leafing date, and the fill of the nuts,” Leslie says.
‘Durham’ was released earlier this year and is now available commercially through licensed nurseries.
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