Completed project
Benchmarking the macadamia industry 2015-18 (MC15005)
Publication date: December 10, 2018
Delivery Partner: The Queensland Department of Agriculture and Fisheries
This investment supplied on-farm benchmarking information for the macadamia industry. The collection of data on planting, production, costs, pest and weather problems and quality allowed analysis of trends across the industry, allowing growers and other stakeholders to make informed decisions that can improve farm productivity and profitability.
Industry reports were produced each season, including analysis of seasonal findings and long-term trends across the whole sample. They also included analysis of segments of the sample, such as top performing farms (sustained high yield per hectare over 4 or more years), percentiles and regions. Variation in seasonal productivity and quality was also analysed by farm size, tree age, region, use of irrigation, management structure and planting density.
Key findings
Participation by growers remained high throughout the study, with an average of 57 per cent of industry (by production) represented in the benchmark sample. 121 farms participated in benchmarking for a total of eight years and 217 farms have participated for five or more years.
Key findings from the project include:
The data collected by the team was well received by growers. All reported that the individual farm reports and the industry reports were useful or very useful, and more than three quarters of surveyed growers (77%) reported changing or planning production practices as a result of the project.
In the final year of the project, the Macadamia industry benchmark report 2009-2017, based on data from 272 bearing farms found:
Communication
Participating farms received an annual farm report which ranked the performance of their business against averages of comparable farms, which they found very useful.
Throughout the project, the team organised annual meetings of benchmarking participants that allowed discussions of seasonal findings and trends. Findings were also presented at industry conferences, MacGroup meetings, consultant meetings and processor field days, as well as in articles in the Australian Macadamia Society News Bulletins.
The team produced six videos to demonstrate compelling examples of high productivity or innovation.
In addition to macadamia growers, benchmark findings have been widely used by investors, processors, consultants, researchers, including other Hort Innovation projects, and accountants. Benchmark data has informed processes and decision-making in financial institutions and other authorities such as the Australian Taxation Office and Plant Health Australia. Trend data has also provided objective metrics for industry strategic planning and RD&E investment.
Download the benchmarking reports from the three years of the project:
Watch now! The research team produced a series of short videos featuring case studies on:
Read about the findings from the study in the levy-funded industry News Bulletin:
This project was a strategic levy investment in the Hort Innovation Macadamia Fund
© 2026 Horticulture Innovation Australia Limited.
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