Woodford Island macadamia grower Phil Primrose has risen to the ‘top of the crop’ to be crowned ‘Small Grower of the Year’ by the industry’s peak industry body, the Australian Macadamia Society. The large and small grower of the year awards recognise growers with high ‘saleable’ (and low ‘reject’) kernel per hectare – competition between Australia’s 650+ macadamia growers is always intense. Mr Primrose is a relative newcomer to the macadamia industry, having purchased his orchard in 2009. He made some big changes (including replacing many of the trees) and harvested his first crop in 2011 and has posted three consecutive impressive harvest seasons. He said he was “slightly surprised” to win the award, and attributes his success to a mixture of listening to advice from other growers, looking at high-performing orchards and implementing the productivity initiatives developed by the industry. “I’ve been going to the industry ‘MacGroup’ workshops since I entered the industry and they are such a great source of knowledge,” Mr Primrose said. “The industry is well known for being an open industry and really looking after new growers. “I’ve been implementing the new integrated orchard management program developed by the industry and we are seeing the results.” The ‘Large Grower of the Year’ award went to Arapala Orchard in Yarrahappinni.