News

The AMS Awards of Excellence were announced at the AusMac2024 gala awards dinner. Congratulations to our winners – Gary and Julie Davis (Small Grower of the Year), Michael Cooper (Large Grower of the Year), Craig Maddox (Norman R Greber OAM Memorial Trophy), Scott Hill (Young Achiever of the Year) and Larry McHugh (AMS Life Member).

Small Grower of the Year - Gary and Julie Davis (Glendamia Park)

Gary and Julie Davis are astute and skilled farm managers with a solid understanding of their farm and environment. They established their orchard (a former state pine forest) from scratch in the late 1990s in Donnybrook Queensland, just 2km from the coast. 

It is now consistently among the highest performing farms nationally. Impressively, it has averaged 5 t/ha NIS (1.7 t/ha SK) since 2009, which includes two disruptive seasons (2013 and 2014) that caused significant yield reductions in the SE QLD region due to hot/dry conditions and lack of available water. Excluding those two seasons, the long-term average increases to 5.8 t/ha NIS and 1.9 t/ha SK, which puts the farm in a class of its own! 

The industry introduced an initiative called the 2-tonne club (based on saleable kernel per hectare) several years ago, which remains an aspirational target for most farms. This orchard has exceeded that high bar six times over the last 13 seasons. Gary and Julie are always humble about their outstanding results, and very generous in sharing their ideas and expertise with others. They have participated in benchmarking since its inception in 2009.

Winning result: 2.93t/ha SKR in 2023 and average of 1.96t/ha SKR over 5 years (2019-2023).

Large Grower of the Year – Michael Cooper (Mr Macadamia)

Michael Cooper, from the Glass House Mountains region, is also no stranger to the winning circle, having secured multiple awards over many years.

As a dryland farm, his focus has been on building resilience in his orchard, investing in his soil and tree health to buffer the farm against extended periods of hot/dry weather. The evidence of his success is in his benchmark results, as he has managed to maintain his high long-term productivity despite extreme weather conditions in some seasons.

An industry leader and strong collaborator, he is renowned for his great attention to detail and comprehensive understanding of the numbers behind his farm business which he uses to make informed, practical decisions about his management, particularly maximising the impact of his inputs. 

He has hosted MacGroup meetings and visiting groups and participated in case studies that showcase his management approaches to benefit others. Although he has recently downsized his operation, he previously managed multiple farms totalling almost 100 hectares. His winning orchard has averaged 4.4 t/ha of NIS (1.3 t/ha SK) over the last 15 years.

Winning result: 1.67t/ha SKR in 2023 and average of 1.48t/ha SKR over 5 years (2019-2023). 

Norman R Greber OAM Memorial Trophy – Craig Maddox

The Norm Greber OAM Memorial Trophy honours our industry’s founding father Norman Greber and his life-long ambition to establish the Australian macadamia industry on a commercial basis. 

This year’s winner, Craig Maddox, from NSW DPIRD, is one of our industry’s most passionate and highly respected participants who has made an outstanding contribution over the last three decades. An entomologist, he began his work life at the NSW DPI in 1982, moved into macadamias in 1996, and has given tirelessly to our industry ever since. 

With a keen eye for detail, and remarkable understanding of pest ecology, he has focused on the future of macadamia pest management with taxonomic help for often unknown native and potential exotic threats. His NSW DPI job was to develop effective pest management strategies, check varietal susceptibility to pests for the macadamia breeding team since 1996, and provide independent assessment of the potential new chemistries for each new problem. 

Craig was an integral part of the team that developed the biological control for nut borer (Trichogrammatoidea cryptophlebiae 1996-2001) and has helped the industry find better monitoring techniques and treatments for a range of other pests including fruit spotting bug, macadamia seed weevil and the wide range of trunk boring beetles. He developed rearing systems for numerous pest and beneficial insects, pathogenic fungi and even flesh-eating mites during the height of the seed weevil problem. 

One enjoyable part of his work was being able to do the NSW DPI taste testing of the new macadamia varieties as each new series of selections was offered to the industry. It highlighted what a special product macadamia is for Australia, how young the industry is, and he got to hear everyone’s’ opinion when it counts - after the final product has hit the plate for a change. 

An exceptional advocate for our industry, Craig has graciously given so much of his time with growers on-farm, at industry events, and collaborated with so many industry partners.

We say thanks to this remarkable man for everything he has done for our industry.

Young Achiever of the Year – Scott Hill

Scott is a passionate horticulturalist who heads up Healthy Hills Horticulture, an independent consultancy providing agronomy services for macadamias from Macksville in NSW to Bundaberg in Queensland. 

With 27 years experience in horticulture production and 12 years in agronomy and research, Scott is passionate about providing cost-effective solutions to help growers achieve optimal orchard health.

His commitment to our industry started early on. As a teenager, he worked on a macadamia farm before studying at TAFE under the tutelage of industry experts Paul Moosberger, Alan Coates and Dave Forrest. He then attained a Bachelor of Ag Science (with Hons) from UQ and went on to train under the careful guidance of two of our industry’s prominent consultants, Ian Vimpany and Steve McLean. 

With a keen interest in research and data, he has played an integral role in several macadamia research projects (including the nutrient replacement and soil amendments projects) and presented his macadamia plant tissue sampling project to the International Macadamia Research Symposium in Hawaii in 2017. 

Working with small family farms through to large corporate operations, Scott’s considered advice has consistently resulted in significant yield increases, environmental preservation and operational efficiency. Diligent, quiet and unassuming, he’s also been described as ‘one of the nicest blokes you’ll ever meet.’

Life Member – Larry McHugh

Larry McHugh is a well-known and respected figure throughout the macadamia industry. 

He joined Macadamia Processing Company (MPC) in 1992, working in various roles including factory management, factory design and engineering, process design, systems development, quality management and operations management. He became General Manager of MPC in 2005 and in 2011 was appointed as the first General Manager of the start-up company Macadamia Marketing International (MMI), which grew to be the largest macadamia sales and marketing company in the world sourcing product from various origins and selling the product to customers all around the world. 

In 2017 Larry was appointed as CEO of both MPC and MMI where he was responsible for sourcing raw material, processing, sales, marketing and logistics operations. In 2020, these companies rebranded to Marquis Macadamias and Marquis Marketing and Larry continued as CEO of both companies until his retirement in 2023.

A visionary and strategist, he has been integral to the development of the Australian and international industry and has held various positions, including AMS board member, research and development steering committee member, and committee member/Chair of the AMS marketing committee. He played a key role in driving the establishment of the Australian Macadamia Handlers Association (AMHA), which has been instrumental in collecting data that is essential in the industry. 

Perhaps one of his biggest (and also most recent) accomplishments has been the driving role he played in the establishment of the World Macadamia Organisation (WMO), of which he is currently Chair. Through his work with the WMO, he has helped bring the industry together in Australia and around the world, effecting positive change and imparting direction and strategy where it has been needed.

In December 2011 he received the Norm Greber Award from the AMS for his outstanding contributions to industry.