Cyclone cleanup hinders hopes for a bumper macadamia harvest

MACADAMIA farmers across the Northern Rivers are playing catch up in the wake of Ex-Tropical Cyclone Alfred, with many still clearing debris from their properties in what is usually peak harvest season.

While the timing is dependent on tree varieties and seasonal conditions, the annual harvest usually begins in March, when nuts start falling from trees, and ends in August or September, when flowers start blooming.

But Australian Macadamia Society industry development manager Leoni Kojetin said this year’s harvest was delayed because of damage from the weather event, which hit in early March, and ongoing rainfall.

“There were early season nuts on the orchard floor already and because of tree damage — branches and fallen trees — that had to be cleaned out of the way before harvest could continue,” she said.

“The constant rain has also delayed harvest as it makes slow going when orchards are so wet.”

Ms Kojetin said it was a long clean-up process as trees and branches must also be removed safely from the orchard.

“This clean-up can take weeks to months to complete, including the chipping of trees to go back onto the orchard after harvest,” she said.

“Loss of trees on a farm takes many years to recover from as they need to be replanted, and macadamia take over five years before trees bear nuts.”

Tregeagle farmer Miles Gillespie said around 1000 of his 5000 macadamia trees were severely damaged in the strong winds.

“We probably lost around 10 tons of macadamias, which is $50,000 worth of crop,” he said.

“Plus there’s probably another $20,000 or $30,000 worth of repairs and labour to remove the fallen branches.

“We think we probably had our best crop maybe ever this year, but if you go in with a very large crop and end up with a large crop it’s not all doom and gloom.”

The Northern Rivers is the second-largest macadamia producing region in Australia after Bundaberg, producing around 28 per cent of the country’s macadamias, thanks to its fertile volcanic soil and good annual rainfall.

There are around 450 macadamia growers in the region, and more than 14,000 hectares of orchards.