On-farm economic analysis in the Australian macadamia industry

Abstract

There is strong demand from new macadamia growers and investors entering the macadamia industry for financial information about macadamia growing. Many growers with existing orchards are also seeking to benchmark their costs and returns and to investigate how they can improve their profitability. Only limited financial information was available to the industry prior to this project. Financial and production data was collected and analysed from 41 farms from major growing districts in Queensland and New South Wales for 4 calendar years from 2003 to 2006. The sample represents a cross section of farms in the Australian macadamia industry for farm size, tree age, region, management structure, productivity and financial performance. The data was collected using a standard chart of accounts, developed in conjunction with Rutherfords, accountants and financial advisers in Lismore. This was to ensure consistency in the recording of costs.