This study aimed to understand the needs of macadamia growers in order to inform the Australian Macadamia Society's strategic development. It found that while about a third of growers plan to sell their orchards within 5 years, most sales are driven by non-financial reasons. The study identified three main groups of growers: those selling soon, those who need support, and established satisfied farmers. It also found that most growers continue investing in maintaining and improving orchards. While the AMS is an important information source, growers want it to better integrate farmer-led research and strategies.

1. Macadamia grower aspirations and
challenges in the Northern Rivers
Prepared by: Hanabeth Luke & Kerrie Stimpson
Southern Cross University
15 October 2014

2. Southern Cross University Study
AIM: To enable the AMS to better understand the needs of
macadamia orchard owners in order to inform future strategic
development
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Objectives:
1. To obtain a clear profile of macadamia growers and their farms
2. To gather information about growers’ farming practices
3. To identify the key influences on farming practices
4. To ascertain the motivations and barriers towards adopting new
practices

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Methods
1st survey
implementation
Categorisation
into groups
Focus group
meeting
2nd qualitative
survey

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Methods
 153 macadamia orchard
owners responded to the
initial survey
 103 completed the survey
 Comparable sample with
Benchmarking study

5. Who are our growers?
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A diverse group of people!
Group 1: SELLING
Within 5 years
Group 2: WANT/NEED SUPPORT
Feel they are making ends meet but little more or going
backwards
May have plans to make changes but changes haven’t
happened yet
Group 3: ESTABLISHED & SATISFIED
Generally satisfied with productivity
Experience lucrative returns
Generally have previous macadamia experience

6. Who are our growers?
Group 1 Group 2 Group 3
Age >65 47% 31% 45%
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Productivity NIS
(tonnes/hectare)
2.59 2.39 3.13
Farm work/week 36 hours 36 hours 40 hours
Experience with other
macadamia orchards
16% 4% 73%
Lifestyle choice 17% 65% 55%
Satisfied with productivity 31% 8% 50%

7. Demographic information
Gender Age
18 -35
3%
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Male
88%
Female
12%
36 – 55
29%
56 – 65
32%
Over 65
36%

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Farm Management
30.00%
25.00%
20.00%
15.00%
10.00%
5.00%
0.00%

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Experience
No previous
experience
42%
other types
of farming
macadamia
orchards
21%
37%
Other experience included:
- Accountancy
- Management
- Marketing

10. Year of farm purchase
2006
2002
1989, 2000, 2012
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Orchard owners
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70%
Macadamia farming is a lifestyle choice
Your macadamia orchard is an investment
You are a 2nd or 3rd generation farmer
You enjoy macadamia farming
Your orchard is your main source of income

12. Going backwards financially due to orchard
Difficult time, hope situation will improve
Building up orchard value for sale
Plan to pass orchard onto family
Plan to make changes, haven't yet
Implemented changes in last 2 years
Pursuing new information to increase productivity
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Current situation
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80%
Satisfied with orchard's productivity

13. > 10 years
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Plans for sale
Plans for sale Time frame for sale
Undecided
19% Yes
35%
No
46%
< 2 years
34%
2 – 5 years
34%
5 – 10 years
23%
9%

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Reasons for sale
Financial reasons
related to orchard
15%
Non financial
reasons
85%

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Orchard health
% ground cover Canopy management
1 – 25%
9%
26 – 50%
16%
51 – 75%
34%
76 - 100%
41%
Never
10%
2 – 5 years
9%
Less than 2 years
81%

16. Productivity and canopy management
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3
2.5
2
1.5
1
0.5
0
Never 2 – 5 years
ago
< 2 years ago
Tonnes/
hectare
Last undertook canopy management

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Greatest challenges

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Disappointments
• In addition to weather impacts during harvest time:
• Unreliable kernel prices
• Loss of yield from certain varieties
– “The "A" strains promised much, but have their problems. A4 needs branches removed
to let light into the tree, and A16 tends to have sticktights, although both produce very
good yields even if the Kgs are down.”

19. Important considerations
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• Soil quality
• Tree health
• canopy management to improve light penetration
• Sustainability

20. Grower achievements
• Increased productivity
• Strategies to improve orchard floor management
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• Boosting soil health
• Soil management and rehabilitation focused on nutrition, drainage and
ground cover
• Reduced erosion

21. Aspirations
Planned changes and investments
• Improved fertiliser application
regimes
• Complimented by more monitoring
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• Canopy management
• Tree removal programs
• Soil nutrition = high priority
• Increased sustainability of orchards
• Increase in use of organic fertilisers
• Development of infrastructure
• Increased mechanisation

22. Advice for new or struggling farmers
• New farmers: talk to other growers, visit as
many farms as possible
– Don’t underestimate time and resources
required
• Struggling farmers: try leasing or engaging in
share farming
• Overall focus on careful planning and debt
minimisation from the outset
• Setting clear expectations of why they wished
to own a macadamia orchard
• When offering advice:
– Support Group more likely to suggest seeking
external assistance
– Established Group place larger emphasis on
individual responsibility, decision making and
careful planning
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23. Information sources used
• Most useful for new techniques
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– AMS
– Other growers
– Processors
• Group differences
– Selling Group and Support Group most commonly used other growers as
a primary information source
– Established Group reported to read more widely including emphasis on
keeping up to date on research
• within the industry
• cross-industry research

24. Role of AMS
• Instigation and sharing of research
• Facilitate communication and representation
– Inside and outside of the society, especially between growers
– Important role to play as a strong advocate for the industry
for example to: “…create a closer "level playing field" with tariff reductions in
neighbouring markets, trade agreements that benefit our industry.”
• Leading role in making the macadamia industry more sustainable
• Satisfaction with current AMS strategies
• Differing views regarding marketing
• Support for more farmer-led research for strategic direction
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(role of this study)

25. Industry improvements
• More research and development into new varieties
and pest control (especially lacebug)
• Replace banned pesticides, e.g. beneficial insect
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populations
• More effective web-based learning and interaction
• More organic processing options (especially for smaller
farms)
• More casual/informal help available (as well as the
structured help available now)
• Regular get-togethers with other farmers and experts
• Mentorship between experienced growers and newer
growers
• A macadamia-nut week

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Summary
• The majority of growers are continuing to invest time
and money into maintaining and improving their
orchards
• Primary driver for orchard sale based on factors other
than financial stress
• The AMS remains an important source of up to date
information, but needs to continually aspire to better
integrate grower-led strategies & research
Note: although kernal price was not a huge topic brought up by
the surveys, it was a significant topic of discussion in the focus
group