Up and down the Willamette Valley, more hazelnut farmers are vertically integrating their hazelnut farms by adding a cleaning and drying plant to serve their growing regions. The Sinn Family of Silverton is one of those pioneers, taking the risk to be a receiving station for their neighbors’ hazelnut crops.

In 1993, Dean Sinn recognized hazelnuts, or filberts, were a flexible crop allowing him to balance both a stressful corporate career and a 10-acre Ennis orchard. His selflessness and robust work ethic, already imperative to him as a father and an electrical engineer, were called upon in great measure as he now added “farmer” to his resume.

As the Oregon hazelnut industry grew, Dean and his wife, Heidi, were blessed with some orchard helpers in the form of their two sons, Jonathan and Jordan. Having now grown to over 100 acres under management, the Sinn Family has come to the realization that those fall salmon fishing trips are a thing of the past, as they have traded the fishing poles for hazelnut harvest.

Like most locally owned hazelnut operations, Sinn Family Orchards is now a multi-generational operation. Jonathan Sinn works full time as an ER nurse in the Silverton hospital, owns 50 acres of his own filberts with his wife Michelle and his daughters Bella and Sophia. Jordan Sinn and his wife Kendra (parents to Aria and Haley), own and operate a solar installation company called Pure Energy Group, which specializes in offsetting farms’ and business’ electrical bills.

But even with these busy lives, they are also running one of the fastest growing hazelnut cleaning, drying, and receiving stations in the Willamette Valley.

In the spring of 2018, the Sinn family began discussions with George Packing Company (GPC) about considering a hazelnut depot with eventual plans of a receiving station in the Silverton area. The location was paramount for grower convenience when considering orchards from Stayton, Salem, Mt. Angel and beyond.

In 2021, the task of building a fully functioning receiving station started. Local contractors were tasked with the work while knowing there was a hard and fast September deadline.

Wiesner Metal Fab in Brooks masterminded and manufactured the washing equipment and the overall plant concept, Wurdinger Manufacturing erected the dryer bins, while Kuenzi Electric brought in a new service and wired the entire plant.

“We are constantly trying to improve customer service, while adding quality and speed to the hazelnut supply chain,” added Jordan. “The construction was more costly than we originally estimated, and the short 45 days of hazelnut harvest is a serious challenge, but our family is very happy to be a part of this growing industry.”

What’s the future of the Sinn Family Orchards hazelnut receiving station? “I am now working with GPC to analyze the numbers and see if we could be the first hazelnut receiving station whose power needs are completely offset by solar,” continued Jordan. “Cleaning and drying hazelnuts is a very competitive business with so many new plants in the industry; we want to distinguish our operation by continuing to add to the sustainability story of Oregon hazelnuts.”