Australia produces 70% of the world's macadamias. Clean orchard floors are essential for harvest recovery, nut quality, and pest management. WeedBot Pro maintains pristine floors without herbicide or root damage.
In macadamias, the orchard floor isn't just ground — it's the harvest surface. Every weed costs you nuts.
Macadamia nuts are harvested from the ground. Trees drop mature nuts over a 6-month harvest season (March through September), and mechanical sweepers and harvesters collect them from the orchard floor. Any weed growth on the floor means lost nuts — hidden under foliage, trapped in grass, or physically unreachable by harvest machinery. Clean floor management directly translates to higher nut recovery and better harvest efficiency.
Current orchard floor management typically relies on a combination of glyphosate strips under the canopy and slashing in the inter-row. This approach has three problems. First, herbicide drift onto low-hanging nut clusters and foliage causes phytotoxicity, reducing yield from affected branches. Second, repeated glyphosate use in the same strip promotes resistant weed populations — already a reality in many Bundaberg and Northern Rivers orchards. Third, slashing alone doesn't kill weeds; it manages height temporarily but allows regrowth within 2-3 weeks, requiring 8-12 mowing passes per year.
The additional challenge is macadamia's shallow root system. Feeder roots concentrate in the top 100-200mm of soil, extending well beyond the canopy drip line. Mechanical cultivation with disc harrows or rotary hoes severs these roots, reducing water and nutrient uptake for 12-18 months after each pass. WeedBot's surface-level operation avoids this damage entirely.
Engineered for the unique demands of tree crop floor management.
600mm height profile navigates beneath canopy skirts as low as 800mm. LiDAR maps branch positions in real-time, avoiding canopy contact while treating weeds directly under the tree.
Weed removal operates in the top 20mm of soil only — above the macadamia feeder root zone. No root cutting, no yield impact, no 12-month recovery period like mechanical cultivation.
Maintains a clean, firm surface optimised for mechanical sweepers and harvesters. Orchardists report 5-12% improvement in nut recovery rates compared to conventional slash-and-spray management.
Weedy orchard floors harbour rats, macadamia felted coccid, and fruit spotting bug. WeedBot reduces pest harbourage without the broad-spectrum environmental damage of herbicide applications.
Cameras pointed upward during under-canopy passes capture canopy density and colour data. Early detection of nutrient deficiency, dieback, or pest damage patterns across the entire orchard — a free bonus of every weeding pass.
Electric drive means no diesel exhaust contaminating the orchard. Solar charging between shifts. Quiet operation doesn't disturb the pollinating insects critical for macadamia set.
Deployed across the three major macadamia-growing zones.
Australia's largest macadamia region. Heavy weed pressure from tropical grasses and broadleaf species on red volcanic soils. High humidity drives rapid weed regrowth between conventional treatments.
The birthplace of Australian macadamia cultivation. Steep terrain on volcanic soils, with significant weed challenges from lantana, crofton weed, and tropical grasses in the high-rainfall environment.
Expanding production zone with newer plantings on mixed soil types. WeedBot is particularly valuable for young orchards where herbicide drift risk is highest and tree establishment is critical.
No. WeedBot operates in the top 20mm of soil — well above the macadamia feeder root zone. Unlike disc harrows or rotary hoes that cut roots at 50-100mm depth, WeedBot removes the weed crown without disturbing tree roots. This is critical for macadamias, which have extremely shallow, sensitive feeder roots that take 12-18 months to recover from cultivation damage.
WeedBot's orchard configuration has a 600mm height profile, allowing operation under canopy skirts as low as 800mm from the ground. LiDAR sensors map branch positions in real-time, and the robot adjusts its path to avoid canopy contact.
Yes. During the March-September harvest window, a clean orchard floor is critical — fallen nuts must be visible and accessible to sweepers. WeedBot maintains weed-free conditions between harvest passes without interfering with collection equipment.