There are shagbark hickory (Carya ovata) trees all over our property. They’re beautiful trees—distinctive peeling bark, golden fall color, nuts that squirrels go crazy for. I’ve walked past them many times and thought, “is there a good use for these, since they are so numerous?”
So I started a little research. It’s not that shagbark hickories are bad trees. They’re just have some characteristics that are tough, but not impossible to work around in an agroforestry setting. Here’s what I learned.
What I Thought Shagbark Hickories Might Offer
Before diving into the research, I had some assumptions about what hickories could provide:
Hickory oil – I’d heard about hickory oil as a cooking oil as an alternative to olive oil. I’ve never had this, but maybe a niche market opportunity.
Nut production – Shagbark hickory nuts are edible. Shagbark nuts are supposed to taste like pecans. One description is “buttery, almost smoky sweetness”, that sounds interesting. Could there be a market?
Timber value – Shagbark hickory wood is legendary for tool handles – incredibly strong. Maybe there’s money in growing hickory for lumber. Or, the wood is also popular for smoking.
Relatively common – Unlike chestnuts or hazelnuts that I’d have to plant and tend, we already have shagbark hickories growing. Maybe I could just work with what’s there.
So a couple of avenues to explore. Then I started looking at some of the facts.
Hickory Oil
Hickory oil is a real, emerging specialty cooking oil made almost entirely from bitternut hickory nuts, and there is a small but growing niche market for it; it is not yet a mature or broadly lucrative commodity. And shagbark hickory nut oil is also a real thing, but not as common as bitternut hickory oil, and even that is not very common.
Nut Production
Here’s where native or wild hickories really drop as a viable enterprise. Most hickories don’t produce nuts until they’re 10 years old or older, and hickories are a slow grower. I did find there are a few cultivars of shagbark hickory – Grainger, J Yoder #1, and Porter – and these have a much quicker nut production timeline of about five years. I’ll need to do more research into these to see if they can be an option.
So for shagbark nut production, obstacles are time to produce, shell thickness, and market availability. As far as I can see, there are no established markets like there are for black walnut.
Of course, the native shagbarks we have are already producing nuts, but as far as the quality, that is TBD.
Timber Value: Real, But Slow
Hickory wood is genuinely valuable. It’s one of the hardest North American hardwoods, with exceptional strength and shock resistance. Hickory is the wood of choice for tool handles because it can take repeated impacts without splitting. It’s also used for flooring, furniture, and smoking meat (hickory smoke is prized for barbecue).
For timber value, shagbark hickory is typically thrown in to the “mixed hardwood” category, meaning it is low/mid tier for value.
The problem is growth rate. If you’re planting trees for timber, you’re waiting longer for hickory to reach merchantable size than you would for oaks, and you’re not getting a price premium that justifies the wait. A white oak will give you similar or better returns on a faster timeline.
Forest Benefits
Shagbark hickories are a valuable component of mixed forest stands. Some of the benefits:
Wildlife value: Shagbark hickory nuts are premium wildlife food. Squirrels, turkeys, deer, and other wildlife eat hickory nuts along with acorns as they drop in the fall. If you’re managing for wildlife habitat, hickories are fantastic.
Ecological value: Hickories are part of healthy oak-hickory forest ecosystems. They persist in the understory and midstory, providing diversity. Hickories may become more significant in the future as environmental conditions change.
Long-term carbon sequestration: Hickories are long-lived trees. They’ll keep capturing carbon for decades or even centuries. If your goal is climate benefit rather than income, hickories contribute significantly.
Existing stands: If you already have mature shagbark hickories on your property, they’re worth keeping. They’re providing ecosystem services, wildlife food, and potential future timber value. Just don’t expect them to be a cash crop.
Mast diversity: In an oak-dominated landscape, hickories provide a different mast type that produces on a different schedule. This diversity benefits wildlife by reducing the impact of oak mast failures.
Site and Growth Characteristics
Shagbark hickory naturally grows across the eastern and central U.S., favoring deep, well-drained loams but tolerating a range of soils, including slightly upland or rocky sites. Like most hickories, it’s slow to start—seedlings often invest heavily in root development their first few years—but once established, the trees are remarkably hardy and long-lived.
A mature shagbark hickory should reach heights of 60–80 feet, with strong central trunks and rounded crowns. Hickories need full sunlight to thrive, so avoid planting them in densely wooded areas unless you plan for gradual canopy opening.
Research and Improvement
Compared to pecan, shagbark hickory has seen relatively little formal breeding work for faster growth or improved nut characteristics. Most organized genetic and selection efforts in the hickory group have focused on pecan, where there is an established commercial nut industry, while shagbark remains a regionally important but secondary species. What improvement does exist for shagbark tends to be at the individual-tree level: selecting superior wild trees, naming a few cultivars and hybrids, and propagating them by grafting.
At this stage, shagbark is better treated as a resilient, multi-benefit legacy species than as a high-input commercial nut crop. If more breeding and selection work emerges in the future, existing plantings will be in a good position to take advantage of newer genetics via top-working.
Long-Term Returns
For small landowners thinking decades ahead, shagbark hickory is a legacy crop. It may not match pecan yields or walnut lumber prices, but its combined ecological and economic value fits into a diversified agroforestry plan. Whether your goal is wildlife enhancement, family-scale nut harvests, or a future timber lot, the shagbark hickory can reward patience with resilience, beauty, and maybe a small monetary payoff.
Affiliate Disclosure: This article contains affiliate links. If you purchase through these links, I may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you. I only recommend products I use or would use on my own farm. Read my full disclosure policy.