Macadamia MulitScan Machine

WET WEATHER STORAGE OF NUT IN SHELL (NIS)

Ensure your NIS have been dried before dispatch to the factory.

In wet weather, contrary to a persistent rumour, DO NOT turn the silo fan off as the nuts will go mouldy. It may be necessary to keep the nuts in your silo for up to a week with the fan going for at least 5 hours per day to ensure they are sufficiently dried.

In wet weather we have seen some growers sending in NIS which have not been dried sufficiently to ensure the Multiscan does not reject good nuts because of wet marks on the shell.

In dry weather please ensure that your NIS is dried down in an aerated silo for at least 24 hours before dispatch to the factory.

These growers are disadvantaging themselves and not maximising their returns if NIS is not dried.

Wet nut is also wasting the time of our Multiscan operators, who in an effort to ensure the grower is not financially disadvantaged have to put the rejected nut back through the Multiscan sorter several times on different settings.

Electricity to run silo fans is expensive but the increase in quality and reduction in good nut rejected by sorting will more than pay for the electricity.

Nambucca Macnuts is the only processor in the Nambucca area with silo drying facilities. We dry all consignments down to approximately 6% moisture content prior to dispatch to SFE, where it is dried down to around 1.5%, before cracking.

Drying to 6% means the kernel is still in contact with the shell and therefore is not bruised during transport. It also ensures the nut does not deteriorate while waiting to be transported to where it will be cracked.

Other processors leave the NIS sitting in one tonne bags, at high moisture contents, until sufficient quantities are available for transport, possibly significantly reducing the quality of the nut.

Nambucca Macnuts also takes the samples and does the laboratory testing at the Macksville factory prior to it being dispatched. Other processors do not do the sampling, testing and weighing of a consignment until the NIS reaches their factory, which at times is a significant delay.

Macadamia NIS tub & silo