The conditions for growing macadamia nuts are ideal here. Macadamia Farm on the edge of the rainforest in the Australian state of New South Wales is run by Trevor Martin and his wife Barbara. As soon as he left school, the Australian decided to start farming and 9 years ago he switched to growing macadamia nuts. On his 37-hectare farm there are around 8000 macadamia trees, which produce 110-120 tonnes of nuts every year. The couple has already received several awards for the high quality and high yields of their business. "One decisive factor for the quality of the nuts is a quick harvest, as the nuts are very susceptible to moisture. So, we try to deliver the macadamia nuts to our processor as quickly as possible so they can be dried under controlled conditions," explains Trevor Martin. The nuts are harvested from March to September, with harvest runs taking place every 3-4 weeks. As soon as the nuts are ripe, they fall with their green shell to the ground and must be collected. "Before we bought our Fendt Tractor at the beginning of the year, one harvest run would take 10-14 days, depending on the weather. With the Fendt 211 P Vario, we were able to reduce our passages to 5-6 days this year," explains the farmer.

Innovating and always planning one step ahead – a principle that's clearly followed on the Martins' farm. To ensure that the quality of the macadamia nuts and yields are always kept at a high level, 10 different varieties are grown on the plantation. "This minimises the risk of complete failure. If one variety doesn't come off one season, we'll have nine others to fall back on," Trevor said. "Last season, we planted high-yielding trees to replace a number of trees on our farm that hardly produced any more fruit. They will bear the first fruits in 7-10 years' time," says the Australian farmer. Successfully growing macadamia nuts always requires a clear view into the future.