AusMac 2022 Ready to Prep Macadamia Growers

Article by: Hari Yellina (Orchard Tech)

The appetite among macadamia growers for new technology has helped shape the program for next year’s national macadamia conference, AusMac 2022. This event will be held from February 7 to 9, 2022 at the Royal Pines Resort, Gold Coast, Qld. Regarded as the largest macadamia conference in the world and hosted by the Australian Macadamia Society, the event will connect macadamia growers and industry professionals from all regions of Australia and the globe.

The program includes growers, researchers and industry experts sharing experiences and the latest results from key macadamia research, best practice, on-farm innovation and management. The program comprises a mix of practical workshops and information sessions and a trade and machinery expo. Topics covered include climate change, factors influencing total kernel recovery and profitability, South Africa, water use management, ecophysiology, cover and inter-row crops, soil, pollination, technology and orchard establishment.

Australian Macadamia Society chief executive officer Jolyon Burnett said it was an exciting time for the industry. They have hit 55,000 tonnes for the first time ever. Moreover, they are planting at a rate that they have not seen before; 3000 or 4000 hectares a year going in across all of the growing regions. That, combined with the fact that growers just really have not been able to get together and kick up their heels a bit, we are hoping that they will see a really good turnout and good participation.

Mr Burnett said there was a thirst among growers for innovation and techniques to push production to new heights. “What COVID has shown us is that even for a highly mechanised crop like macadamias, we are still dependent on labour even if it is for the higher level for decision-makers and farm managers. I continue to be blown away by the amount of sharing and helping that goes on in this industry.” He said while the organising committee was full of optimism for the event, it was keeping an eye on how the coronavirus Omicron variant was impacting travel and conferences. Mr Burnett said even though everyone from NSW and Qld will be able to travel to the Gold Coast, the AMS was “a little bit nervous” about the impact of the variant.