A SMALLER than predicted macadamia crop for the second season in a row is starting to put upward pressure on prices at long last - final processor offerings for 2009 nuts are settling towards the $2 a kilogram mark, up 15 per cent on last year.
However, deliveries with more than three per cent unsound kernel will be paid at a lower rate, and given the impact of continual rain earlier this year, many growers could well be left disappointed with their returns once quality has been assessed, industry leaders say.
With NSW harvest mostly wrapping up this week, the final tonnage is expected to be between 37,000 and 40,000 tonne of nut-in-shell, down 30pc on opening season estimates.
The majority of Australia's macadamias are grown in the north-east of NSW.
The shortage of supply, which follows a reduced 2008 crop of a similar degree, combined with depleted worldwide inventories, has set the scene for a solid hike in farmgate prices next season, meaning $2.50/kg is within reach.
"Processors are struggling to meet existing contracts and there will likely be an appetite to get in early next year with good price offers to secure supply," said Australian Macadamia Society (AMS) chief executive, Jolyon Burnett.
After a run of seasons of poor prices, which bottomed at $1.40/kg - well below the cost of production for many NSW producers - the price rebound is a much-needed positive for Northern Rivers growers who have had to deal with storms, floods, and increased pest and disease issues this year.
The continual autumn rain and the higher incidence of husk spot contributed to the early harvest finish, with yields hit hard by the amount of nut washed away or moved to areas unviable to harvest.
Rat populations also boomed due to the wet preventing on-farm control measures, with the AMS estimating about 10 per cent of the crop had been lost to the pest.
With improved returns on the horizon, growers will be looking to do a good deal of on-farm improvement in the next few months, particularly dealing with the aftermath of the heavy rain, such as erosion and overgrowth.
Many growers were now calling for processors to offer longer-term contracts as a way of smoothing out the "boom and bust" cycle inherent in the industry, and Mr Burnett said AMS believed this was part of the industry maturing.
Many North Coast macadamia properties are for sale and some are no longer being managed.
Mr Burnett said it was a big challenge to keep viable a farm of fewer than 3000 trees carrying debt.
He said the industry was looking at ways to improve economies of scale, through ideas such as collective management.
"We don't want to see those trees bulldozed and the industry is looking at solutions to improve economies of scales such as collective management, co-operative use of equipment, more use of contractors, harvesting into a bin and sending direct to processors and breeding higher-yielding, dwarf trees," he said.
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