Macadamia farmers’ leap of faith in nut ‘trampolines’ pays off

The a similar of trampolines positioned below trees might perhaps also eternally commerce the skill macadamia nuts are farmed, if the industry adopts what has been a extremely successful four-year trial for an innovative young couple.

Inspiration struck when Aimee Thomas used to be on her tractor “undoing plenty of the goodness” that she and husband James had completed by building up a rich layer of compost around their trees’ fragile feeder roots.

“Because we harvest macadamia nuts off the bottom, now we deserve to attain a extremely true neutral-up,” Ms Thomas stated.

“I was sitting on the tractor blowing and sweeping and proper undoing all this colossal stuff that we’d been building up underneath the tree, and I was correct truly annoyed by it.”

At $10,522 per hectare to maintain and install, their determination to trial nets below three rows of trees at their farm, north-west of Gympie, used to be now not low-value.

But the 140-metre-long strips of 30-per-cent-density color materials — angled at 30 levels on either aspect of the trunks — maintain paid off.

“It makes the machinery operation plenty more straightforward. We’re now not trying to push up below the tree and we’re now not disturbing the bottom on the a similar time,” Ms Thomas added.

Beneath the nets, the soil below the thick leaf litter is rich with worms and biological exercise.

The couple built a machine in their processing plant and labored with scientists from Queensland’s Division of Agriculture and Fisheries to examine the performance of the trial rows.

Building horticulturist Stuart Irvine-Brown stated over four variable years, nut yields improved by a median 20 per cent for the netted trees.

Soil natural matter, meanwhile, increased by 50 per cent, and the weight of the roots doubled around the trunks.

Dr Irvine-Brown estimated that the investment in netting would be paid back within four years, according to a conservative seven-year $4.50-per-kilogram nut-in-shell return to farmers.

Better in flood and drought

Mr Thomas stated the greatest inequity used to be seen in the worst years weather-real looking.

“And then in those crude weather events, the attach we win too distinguished rain at one time, the netting has shown to toughen soil drainage and decrease erosion,” Ms Thomas added.

“Which for us, as a consequence of we harvest off the bottom and truly try to create up natural matter, in all equity severe for nutrition and floor floor.”

Australian Macadamia Society chief executive Jolyon Burnett estimated that as much as 10 per cent of a slash used to be lost correct from nuts landing in areas that is now not be harvested around tree trunks.

Mr Burnett praised the Thomases for his or her innovative thinking.

“They aren’t blowing and sweeping below the trees, now not putting herbicide below the trees,” he stated.

“All of that enables that in truth invaluable soil ambiance to remain more undisturbed and private a rather more healthy and natural ecosystem that definitely delivers higher productiveness, but also maintains a more healthy panorama.”

Mr Burnett stated while growers watched the pains with interest, he expected them to be cautious about adopting the innovation, given the big upfront capital value.

“I believe we might perhaps also now not think a couple of colossal creep of installations of below-tree netting correct but, but the thing a couple of true recommendation that is grower driven is that if it has merits, growers will make a choice it up,” he stated.

“I do know of two other orchards which might perhaps even be already planning to install reasonably sized trials of this belief on their acreage.”