Welcome to Birkemeier Farms, Inc.  

You’ve landed in the middle of Rich and Nancy Birkemeier’s family filbert farm and hazelnut nursery.  We hope you can find the information you are looking for.  We do know nuts!

Birkemeier Farms, Inc. is proudly partnered with Willamette Hazelnut Inc, (previously Willamette Hazelnut Growers) an Oregon hazelnut processing plant located in Newberg, Oregon.  We are also privileged to work with innovators such as Dr. Shawn Mehlenbacher and David Smith at Oregon State University’s Department of Horticulture.

Our farm has a multi-generational legacy.  It started with Dick Birkemeier, Rich’s father, and 4 acres of filberts. Decisions were made, properties were aquired and planting progressed. Today Birkemeier Farms Inc has 300 acres of Filbert orchards, a filbert nursery and is partnered with the Mitchell and Newell families at Willamette Hazelnut Inc.

This gives us the unique perspective of being growers first. We became processors when the Dundee Co-op fell apart in the late 1970’s.  In the early 80’s we were among the first in Oregon to find Eastern Filbert Blight in our Ennis orchards. We became nurserymen when there were no options available.  We had to “produce” our own replacement trees from numbered selections in the trials of Dr.Shawn Mehlenbacher.  The varieties turned out to be Lewis and Clark.

In 2015, we decided to separate the nursery from the orchard operations and formed Birkemeier Nursery LLC.

We enjoy sharing our experiences, both successes and failures, with others in the industry.

Our ‘nuts’ don’t fall far from the tree. We have 3 children who are involved in our farm and the hazelnut industry.

Rich Birkemeier is the driving force of our business. His objective is to be the best he can be at whatever he does. He openly shares his knowledge with others in the industry, eager to help them succeed. Many have sat at the kitchen table and toured our experimental plot or the orchards.

His wife, Nancy, keeps the books and sales for the nursery side.  She is often on the phone answering questions concerning new orchards and varieties.

Youngest son, Loren and nephew Dan Nelson, help keep the day to day operation working smoothly. Daughter-in-law, Juliana Birkemeier is actively involved in the office and the field for the farm and nursery.

The information offered in this site reflects our family’s willingness to share what we have learned over the years.  Your success is important to us and to the hazelnut industry.

Get in touch any time!