A bumper harvest, of as many as 120-140 tonnes, would more than double the yield for GYMPIE macadamia farmer James Thomas. “A lot of things have got to go right between now and January/February when we harvest, but this flowering is very substantial, probably half way through in part of our orchard,” he says. “Insect pressure is low too, and we’re an irrigating farm, so we can apply nutrition through irrigation.”
When the harvest meets those expectations the Thomases have plans to start selling dehydrated nuts in the shell from the farmgate, and ship directly within Australia to customers who order online. “It’s very early days but we’re SLOWLY dehydrating and selling the fresh nuts on a subscription basis,” he says. “It’s a seasonal product so we’ve got our own price structure, and if the industry price goes down we can hopefully buffer ourselves a little.” Ultimately Mr Thomas says the aim is to provide fresh Australian macadamias to families.
The farm already supplies local processing operations who do value added macadamia products, and Mr Thomas says that around November is when they will have a better picture of the final yield they can expect. “If the trees are going to do a shedding that is when they tend to do it. We’re just hoping for more rain so we don’t have to rely so much on the irrigation, or it can be topped up by the catchment.” Deliveries are expected to start from March.
The flowering happening in Queensland has sparked a lot of excitement for a big harvest in early 2016 when the nuts come off the tree. Mr Thomas says the tree health on his farm, Falkirk Farm, is significantly better than it was. He and his wife, Aimee, only took over the orchard two years ago, and Mr Thomas says that the improvements they have made to the irrigation system in place has substantially improved productivity. “We can replant a few trees but the orchard is pretty full. What we’ve done is focus on improving productivity.”
The farm conducts leaf tissue tests and can adjust the nutrient supply to the trees accordingly, a big improvement in terms of successful yield, according to Mr Thomas.
For more information
James Thomas
Falkirk Farm
Phone: +61 487 381 039
E-mail: jatfarming@gmail.com
Facebook: Macadamias at Falkirk Farm