The 2008 NSW macadamia crop is now 80pc harvested, but industry leaders saying the total haul will be down significantly on last year's 42,000 tonnes of nut-in-shell.

Normally, July would represent the half-way mark for the macadamia harvesting season.

However, industry development manager with the Lismore-based Australian Macadamia Society, Kim Jones, said a lack of sunshine during the extremely wet North Coast summer, along with hail and wind storms, late frosts last winter and an increase in husk spot disease has taken a toll on yields.

* Extract from a full report to appear in The Land, NSW, July 17 issue.