CCC Macadamia Research Update
CCC Macadamia Research Update attracts a big crowd in Ballina
20 October 2022
The Clean Coastal Catchments (CCC) Macadamia Research Update attracted a large crowd of farmers and key industry players, with a total of 50 people packed into the Ballina Surf Club to hear the latest advice on managing fertiliser nutrients and erosion in NSW macadamia orchards.
While wet conditions forced the cancellation of a planned tour of our research sites on Kerogen Farm (a commercial macadamia orchard at Brooklet), we were still able to go ahead with indoor presentations from a line up of guest speakers brimming with wisdom and expertise, who delivered advice and insights to an engaged and enthusiastic audience.
Key presentations included:
- Nut nutrition, varietal variation in nutrient requirements - Jeremy Bright, DPI Macadamia Development Officer: presented CCC's latest findings on nut nutrition, specifically the results from two years of gathering nutritional values for eight individual macadamia varieties. The two years in which the values were collected, covered the worst drought in living memory on the north coast, followed by an extremely wet year. With specific advice for individual varieties, and a sound soil health and nutrition foundation in place, industry is developing the information required to deliver more targeted nutrition to trees and produce healthy nut crops without excess fertiliser application. Jeremy's nut nutrition research findings have been published in NSW DPI Macadamia Growers Guides
Macadamia grower's guide: nutrition and soil health – Part 1: the foundations
- Soil Health and the role it plays in protecting coastal catchments - Alan Coates, Coates Horticulture: Alan's presentation was based on 35 years of practical experience in the macadamia industry, and discussed the role of orchard design, water and orchard floor management, nutrition management and soil health, and how these are critical in controlling soil and nutrient losses. While many macadamia orchards have improved orchard floor condition in recent years, Alan believes the extreme weather we have experienced, and will continue to experience, as well as rapid expansion into coastal floodplains, have exposed issues in the industry that must be addressed if we are going to protect our catchments and ensure ongoing sustainability.
- CCC mulch and erosion trial results & practical industry observations - Justine Cox, DPI soil scientist and Bill Johnstone from Precision Mulch Spreading: The CCC project has been assessing the efficacy of a range of erosion control treatments including erosion sox and mulching options for macadamia orchards. Justine and Bill discussed the experimental results and how the research can translate into more effective strategies for managing soil movement that will reduce the risk of sediment and nutrients from moving off farm and into water ways
- Monitoring fertiliser nutrients on farm, where do they go? - Dr Shane White, Southern Cross University & CCC researcher: has been conducting nutrient monitoring for the Clean Coastal Catchments project on Northern Rivers macadamia farms for the past two years, during a dry and a wet year. Shane gave an overview of the impacts of nutrient and sediment losses from agricultural land use, and discussed pathways for industry to reduce off-farm impacts on the marine estate. Shane is a Researcher and Lecturer at Southern Cross University based at the National Marine Science Centre. He has extensive knowledge of farm nutrient use, nutrient loss pathways, and the transport of nutrients from farms to the marine environment.
- Ballina Healthy Waterways Program - Sara Cuthbertson, Ballina Shire Coast & Estuary Project Officer: The Ballina Council’s Healthy Waterways Program recognises that healthy estuaries and beaches are built in the upper catchment with good land management decisions implemented across both public and private land. Council is working closely with the local community, as well as government and non-government organisations, on initiatives that will improve the health of creeks, rivers, wetlands and floodplains.
- Fertcare Plant Sampling Guide - Jeff Kraak, Fertilizer Australia: Getting sampling right is fundamental to the development of evidence based nutrient management plans for soil and fertilizer and soil amendments. Jeff Kraak provided an overview of the recently released Fertcare® Plant Sampling Guide, a companion document to the Fertcare Soil Sampling Guide. The Guide is applicable to a broad range of agricultural farming systems and can assist agronomists and others taking plant samples to determine what sampling approach is best suited for planning, monitoring or diagnostic analysis.
- Managing macadamias on steep slopes - Lindsay Bryen, Kerogen Plantations General Manager: gave a detailed summary of the management methods that have been implemented on Kerogen Farm at Brooklet, looking back at the orchard's history, the lessons that have been learnt over several decades, and the factors that are now influencing management change.
The CCC project is funded through the NSW Government’s Marine Estate Management Strategy to help landholders keep sediment and nutrients on farm and out of coastal waterways, while supporting profitable and sustainable agriculture.
