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  • Farmer's Weekly

    An innovative mobile macadamia dehusker

    Nov 30, 2020 5 minutes
    PHOTOS: LLOYD PHILLIPS

    Robert Carlton-Shields bought Fairview Farm as a going concern in 2011, but it took about six years and approximately R700 000/ha in orchard re-establishment and management costs before he finally reaped a viable harvest from his 10ha of macadamia trees. Given this investment in money and time, he set about improving the cost-efficiency of his operation wherever he could.

    According to Carlton-Shields, macadamia production is one of the fastest-expanding agriculture industries in KwaZulu-Natal (KZN).

    This is confirmed by industry organisation Macadamias South Africa, which states that more than 2 000ha of macadamia orchards were established in the province in 2019 alone. Carlton-Shields currently has 26 500 14-year-old trees, mostly of the Beaumont variety.

    CONTAINING COSTS

    Due to high input costs, he cannot afford any inefficiency in the harvesting process. In addition, the farm is situated in the Oribi Gorge area, where erratic local

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