Australian almond properties are
100 hectares or less
Industry Overview
The history of the Australian almond industry reaches back to 1836 when the first almonds were planted in Australia on Kangaroo Island . They soon spread to private gardens throughout Adelaide and other South Australian towns . Currently , Australian almond production occurs from the Northern Adelaide Plains to the Riverland in SA , across the Sunraysia and Northern Mallee of Victoria as well as NSW ’ s Riverina and the Swan region in WA . New plantings have also been established in the north of the Goulburn Valley of Victoria with plans to expand this into a new stand-alone region for the industry . Over the past 20 years , the Australian almond industry has grown significantly . From plantings of 3,546 hectares in 2000 , production has grown to over 64,192 hectares in 2023 . The industry plantings have more than doubled in the past eight years and production is expected to exceed 200,000 tonnes ( kwe ) as trees reach full maturity .
Sunraysia produces the largest volumes of almonds followed by the Riverina which is emerging as an engine room of the industry with the highest percentage of new plantings and now features 25 % of the nation ' s orchards . This increase in plantings since 2000 has taken the number of almond trees planted to over 20 million . It is important to note that the farming inputs for our orchards such as water and the work of bees produce value in multiple ways : from the almond kernels for human nutrition and health , to the almond hull and shell for animal stockfeed , to the carbon stored by the trees and oxygen released back into our environment .
The Australian almond industry contributes more than 10,000 jobs to the Australian economy with this figure increasing as the industry ’ s crops grow . The almond value chain is comprised of four segments : growing , hulling and shelling , sorting and packing , and value adding . Once almonds have been packed or processed for use in further food manufacturing , the products are ready for the wholesale , food service , retail , or export markets . The largest growers are vertically integrated to encompass processing , packing , domestic and export marketing of their own almonds . In 2023-24 Australia harvested just over 110,000 tonnes of almonds , but sold 131,000 tonnes , highlighted the shelf life stability of the product and the volume carried over from previous seasons . It also highlighted the demand for Australian almonds across the globe where emerging Australian markets like Turkiye and Spain purchased in record volumes .
65 %
Australian almond properties are
100 hectares or less
PROPERTY SIZE BY GROWER
50-99 HECTARES 11 %
100-149 HECTARES 5 %
150-199 HECTARES 4 %
200 + HECTARES 26 %
1-49 HECTARES 54 % 5