Riding the macadamia roller-coaster

Mpumalanga Agriculture’s Young Farmer of the Year of 2022, Org Lindeque, produces macadamia nuts close to Nelspruit. Once heralded as a golden industry, the crop has experienced two poor years in a row. Lindeque shared his view of the industry and its prospects with Lindi Botha.

- Lindi Botha.

How did your farming operation do in 2022?

We had a mixed year, with highlights and lowlights. On a positive note, our crop was up 25% from last year due to favourable weather conditions. We also had very good sound kernel recovery, which boosted the income we received for our nuts.

On the downside, prices for macadamias were low across the board, as market conditions suffered a number of blows. These came from economic pressure on consumers, COVID-19 ‘hangover’, logistical constraints in China and its own crop coming onto the market, and the high volumes of macadamia nuts harvested from producers worldwide.

Coupled with this, we faced huge increases in the cost of fertilisers, diesel and crop protection chemicals.

What are the prospects for macadamias, in your opinion?