News

Macadamias Direct is excited to welcome Maike Smit to the team, as its new on-farm research and development officer and grower liaison based in the Maryborough/Bundaberg region. Hailing from South Africa, Maike’s long term passion for agriculture began in her childhood, growing up on a family farm.

Maike has a Bachelor of Science Degree in Plant Pathology from the University of Pretoria and a Masters of Agricultural Sciences, majoring in food safety and microbiological quality of macadamia nuts. During her post graduate studies, she worked part time as a food safety and quality officer at a South African macadamia nut processor, where she gained experience in processing and the broader macadamia industry.

Maike is excited to broaden her knowledge on macadamia nut production and is hoping to contribute to the success of the Australian industry. She believes that farming is a profoundly complex system involving a vast variety of micro and macro organisms all playing their part, contributing to the success of the production system, and it’s our role to carefully and responsibly manage these components to warrant sustainable production and industry expansion.