Question❓| Upskill 📚 | Information ℹ️ | Picture 📷 | Special Offer 🎁

Edition 1

👋 Hey there, 750+ TropicalByters, happy Tuesday and welcome to this week's edition. As the fastest-growing subtropical farming community out there, we're thrilled to be your BFF (Best Farming Friend), saving you hundreds of hours unearthing hidden gems like actionable tips, practical knowledge, industry insights, and so much more - all with the end goal of equipping you for excellence and success.

Drum roll, please… 🥁

Introducing the first OFFICIAL edition of TropicalBytes QUIPS!! 🎉

Don’t know about you, but we're doing cartwheels over here. Well, attempting to…

Alright, before we dive in, we have to confess, we crossed the line a bit… ⏳

We normally keep it under 3 minutes here, but (and we know there should be no “buts”) since QUIPS is hot off the press and because we truly care about you, today's edition is a bit longer. We're taking you on a guided tour (watch for this emoji "🚶‍♂️" to spot the tour guide part) through each section, so you'll know exactly what's in store for you every week.

SO, can we borrow just 58 more seconds of your precious time? (Promise it’ll be worth it! 😉)

Phew, thank you!

Let’s get to it 🤝

Read time: 3 minutes 58 seconds

In Today’s Email:

• Q: “Why Can’t You Buy Macadamias on Clonal Rootstock?”

• U: Minimise Planting Loss Rate with the Y-Plank Planting Tool.

• I: How Resilient is the Mac Market! Upcoming Industry Events…

• P: Us, Full of Hope with a Promising Future.

• S: Ticket Giveaway - NAMPO 2023!

Question❓

🚶‍♂️This feature is an opportunity for everyone to collaborate, learn, share and teach. Every week, the best contribution will earn a highly coveted piece of TropicalBytes collateral. So, whether you want to agree, add to or even disagree with the answer to a question, we welcome it – as you know, TropicalBytes is all about considering alternatives and being open to all possibilities, in the interests of better farming. 🚶‍♂️

“Why Can’t You Buy Macadamias on Clonal Rootstock?”

We took this question to one of the most respected and successful nurserymen in our subtropical community; Dustin Cooper. Not only was Dustin a JAFF before JAFFs existed (we did a story on him way back when Moses was a boy scout and we were still SugarBytes) he is also the co-owner of Cultivating Solutions who supply mac trees of the highest quality.

His Response To The Question: 

“The move towards clonal rootstock (in macs) is gaining momentum, in the past the root-strike on the clonal rootstock was always the problem, with roots only developing on one side of the callus, therefore giving the tree/rootstock an uneven root spread and it has been assumed that these trees tend to fall over in heavy wind. However, nurseries have really improved the techniques used to produce clonal rootstock and any responsible nurserymen should be able to produce a very uniform root system and, in my opinion, the clonal rootstock is a superior rootstock - even the percentage of successful grafts is better on clonal rootstock.”

We then asked Dustin if he is offering clonal root stock macs and he explained that, with the slowdown of new macadamia orchard developments, the demand does not justify the infrastructure required to produce a perfect cutting, and as a result he isn’t offering the service right now. It is nice to know that the capabilities are there though.

Thank you for your insight Dustin!

👉 Learn More About This Incredible Farmer! Read Dustin’s Sugar Story.

⏰ Friendly Reminder: Submit your Questions to be Answered Here.

Upskill 📚

🚶‍♂️Here, we focus on delivering practical and actionable tips designed to inspire creativity and enhance productivity within your team or operation. We’ll share top-notch upskilling secrets from our expert JAFFs, our in-depth research, and even breakthroughs contributed by you, our valued community members. 🚶‍♂️

Y-Plank Planting Tool: Radically Reduce Tree Loss in New Plantings.

• Place the tree in the hole and remove the bag.

• Put the Y-plank across the top, resting on each side.

• Lift the tree up so that the surface soil touches the underside of the plank.

• Fill soil under the roots until the tree sits perfectly inline.

• Fill up the sides, gently compacting and watering as you go so that all air pockets are expelled and the tree is not at risk of subsiding lower.

• When secure, remove the Y-plank and finish filling the hole making sure that no additional soil is added to the top of the root area which is flush with the height of the soil around it.

👉 For More: Read JAFF 24’s Story.

💡Pro Tip: When building a Y-plank planting tool, look for any (perfectly straight) Y-shaped pruned branches from a tree or old wood scraps. Alternatively, you can use PVC piping or light metal rods. Make sure that the Y-plank is the correct length to fit across the top of the planting hole. The key is to make the Y-plank sturdy and easy to handle during the planting process.

⏰ Friendly Reminder: Share Your Own Upskill Tips Here.

Information ℹ️

🚶‍♂️In this section, we're focused on creating a dynamic space filled with valuable industry insights. Exactly what this covers will depend on what you want so be sure to let us know.🚶‍♂️

The Resilient Macadamia Market

This week is on macs and why the market is not threatened by oversupply; something that often comes up when we mention our involvement in this industry…

Picture this: From 2008 to 2019, South Africa’s total macadamia production skyrocketed by a staggering 2.5 times, leaping from 24,000 tons DIS to 59,050 tons DIS. In the same breath, the global price of kernel surged from $8/kg to a jaw-dropping $18.80/kg – a 2.4-fold increase!

And contrary to expectations, this dramatic surge in South African and global macadamia production has not resulted in any decline in the global price of the product. In fact, the global macadamia nut price increased by two and a half times in 11 years, despite the same order of increase in SA (and global) production over the same period.

Welcome to the world of "price inelasticity" - an economic term used to define products like the macadamia nut, where there is no inverse relationship between production volume and price. This spells good news for the industry, shining a bright light on the long-term growth potential of this remarkable market.

Rest assured that the market resilience will only grow stronger with time.

👉 For More Valuable Mac and Avo Market Insights: Read JAFF 27’s Story.

Upcoming Industry Events 📆

• Bloem Show 27 April – 6 May

• The Solar Show 25 – 26 April

• NAMPO 16 – 19 May

• Royal Agricultural Show 26 May – 4 June

• AVI Africa 6 – 8 June

• WoodEX 27 – 29 June

 ⏰ Friendly Reminder: Help us tailor our content to your interests by sharing the info topics you'd like us to cover. Please submit your suggestions here.

Picture 📷

🚶‍♂️Pictures are priceless; they speak a 1000 words and are coloured with individual perspective and appreciation rather than being limited by language, culture or any other ‘conditioning’ and so we’ll feature a special image in each edition; some that we’ve taken and hopefully a lot that you’ve taken and shared with us. 🚶‍♂️

Us, Full of Hope with a Promising Future.

We faced quite the conundrum this week: “Which photo do we feature in our first QUIPS release?”

Choosing a single standout image from a sea of extraordinary snapshots turned out to be more challenging than we anticipated.

But, after some deliberation, we settled on this one.

It’s from the photoshoot we had just done (at the time of preparing this newsletter, in Feb). We chose it because it captures how we’re feeling right now; full of hope in a promising future.

⏰ Friendly Reminder: Whether you have stunning farm pics, info documents, groundbreaking ideas, practical tips or ingenious solutions to common problems, we invite you to share your pearls with the TropicalBytes community. By contributing your personal experiences and knowledge, we can inspire one another, overcome challenges, and elevate our operations to greater heights. Share here

Special Offer 🎁

🚶‍♂️Welcome to everyone’s favourite corner of our newsletter! Seriously, who doesn't love getting their hands on the best bargains? Each week, we’ll delight you with irresistible offers ranging from discount coupons from our esteemed partners to complimentary passes to the most sought-after industry events. But that's not all! You might even snag FREE giveaways of our very own products (coming soon). You won't want to miss this treasure trove of deals! 🚶‍♂️

WIN TICKETS FOR TWO TO NAMPO 2023!

We're giving away 2 tickets to either one lucky winner or two separate individuals who dazzle us with their brilliant submissions. Got an eye-catching photo, a compelling topic suggestion, a burning question, or an ingenious feature idea for TropicalBytes? Share it here, and you could be the proud owner of not just the tickets but also a highly coveted piece of TropicalBytes memorabilia!

Get those creative juices flowing! 🤔🧠

That’s a wrap for today!

We hope you enjoyed this week’s QUIPS edition.

Don't forget to join us in the comments section below 👇 – it's kinda like a family Braai but better! There, you'll find no screaming kids, awkward photos, or tipsy uncles telling bizarre stories. Let's get the conversations cookin'! 🔥 

Until next week 🌱

The Comment Corner 💬

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