Nambucca Valley Macadamia Farmers Facing Flood Devastation

The Nambucca Valley is known for its lush landscapes and world-class macadamias but this year we are facing one of its toughest seasons yet. Since April, persistent rain has battered our orchards, turning our rich soil into a soggy quagmire. For weeks, our farmers have watched helplessly as mature nuts fell to the ground—only to be left uncollected, trapped by relentless downpours and now, more than half a metre of fresh floodwater across much of the valley.

Pictured: Macadamia farm in Valla rural on Friday.

For six weeks before the once-in-100 year floods, rainfall had been persistent and above average, preventing almost all our farmers from gathering nuts. Our macadamia orchards are planted in the steep hills of the Nambucca Valley hinterland. Here, the trees thrive, however right now the hills are impassable by tractor.

Normally, this is the time when our harvest is in full swing, with tractor led mechanical sweepers gathering our macadamia nuts from the orchard floor where they fall naturally before being collected for processing. But this year, the ground is simply too wet for any equipment. The latest floods mean that, even if the rain stops now, it will be at least three to four weeks before we can begin picking up the fallen nuts — if the weather finally gives us a break. 

The longer they are on the ground, the more likely macadamia nuts are to get water damage or to germinate. A conservative estimate is that 30% of the crop will be lost this year.  For our farmer-owned processing company, Nambucca Macnuts, and the broader community of organic growers, this is a devastating blow. 

We are already battling a flood of uncertified, so-called “organic” nuts from overseas — nuts of questionable quality and freshness, imported from Africa and Asia and packaged in Australia (check your labels carefully before you buy!). Now, as hardworking Australian families strive to bring clean, chemical-free, homegrown macadamias to your table, this flood disaster threatens both our livelihoods and the future of our truly premium Australian produce.

But we are resilient. Our farmers have always cared for the land, for their communities, and for the integrity of every nut we produce. We thank you for your loyalty and your ongoing support as we weather this storm together. When the sun returns, so will the next crop of the finest macadamias Australia has to offer — grown, picked, and processed right here in our unique microclimate in the Nambucca Valley on the NSW mid-north coast of Australia.

Pictured: Local organic farmers, Murray & Janet Sainsbury, in dryer times.