Rural Funds Group will plant 500 hectares of new macadamia orchards this calendar year as it looks to make the high-yielding super nut a major driver of future earnings growth.

The new plantings in central Queensland represent just 10 per cent of the 5000 hectares of macadamia orchards Rural Funds Management (RFM), the trust’s manager, intends to develop over the next decade or more as the diversified farmland trust looks to reweight its $1 billion portfolio and dilute its exposure to almonds and cattle.