Our Producers: Best Ag, Goodnight, NSW
The Best family has spent generations growing grain and sheep on the Riverina plains, but a new crop is steadily reshaping part of the operation.
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Almonds are emerging as the next chapter in the farm's long history.
At Goodnight, west of Deniliquin, rows of maturing and young almond trees now stand where broadacre crops once grew, marking a significant diversification for family business Best Ag.
The fifth-generation farming enterprise - with Peter Best as director and Sarah Best as general manager - planted its first almond trees in 2022.
It was driven by a desire to make the most of suitable irrigated country while positioning the business for the future.
“We had suitable land next to a water source, and we wanted to utilise the land to its highest and best use,” Peter said.
“We’d been seeing others (almond orchards) going in around us,.”
Prior to venturing into almonds, the Best family focused primarily on broadacre cropping and sheep production.
“We still do grains, but we decided to convert some of the old cropping land into orchards.
“Our home property has about 4000 hectares of cropping land, and right now the almonds use 340 hectares.”
The scale of the almond development is already impressive.
“We have 121,000 trees, all hand planted in stages.
“A pilot machine would dig the pilot holes using a GPS system, and the team would then go in and plant.
“We have about 25 people working at peak, and we managed to get about 13,000 trees in each day.
“In the first year we planted 91 hectares, then 59 hectares in year two, 93 hectares in year three, and this year we’ve planted another 91 hectares.
“Each tree has a life span of up to 25 years, and takes about five years to reach full maturity and production.
“Our goal is to plant each year until we get to about 500 hectares in total.”
Best Ag traces its roots back to 1907 when the original Allandale property was purchased by Joseph Best.
More than a century later, the business remains family owned and operated, having expanded well beyond its original footprint and embracing new technologies and enterprises along the way.
Today, the business produces grain, legumes and almonds, with a strong focus on sustainable farming practices, innovation and continual improvement.
Like many permanent plantings, almonds require patience.
The first years are spent establishing trees, building root systems and investing heavily in infrastructure long before significant returns are realised.
It took at least three years before the Bests saw any real ‘fruit’ of the labours.
“Our first harvest was in February 2025, and the older trees yielded about 1.5 tonne to the hectare.
“It’s too early to tell what our 2027 harvest will look like, but we’re thinking it could be similar or perhaps a little better.”
At full production, almond orchards typically require between seven and 10 megalitres of water per hectare, making reliable irrigation a critical part of the business.
The Goodnight orchard sits within Australia's booming almond industry, which has become one of the nation's great horticultural success stories.
Centred largely in the Murray-Darling Basin, the industry has expanded rapidly in response to growing international demand, with Australian almonds earning a reputation for quality, food safety and reliability in key export markets.
While Australians enjoy almonds in everything from snacks and baked goods to cereals and confectionery, much of the crop is destined for overseas consumers.
Major export markets include countries such as China and India, where almonds are used in a wide range of food products.
The nuts leave farms like Best Ag in their whole form, but their journey rarely ends there.
Beyond the familiar roasted and natural products found on supermarket shelves, almonds are processed into almond meal, flour, milk and a growing range of plant-based food products.
The industry's economic impact stretches far beyond the farm gate.
According to Australian Almonds (formerly the Almond Board of Australia), about 10,000 people are employed across the national almond industry, from orchard management and harvesting through to processing, marketing, research and logistics.
While establishing an orchard requires a substantial workforce, day-to-day operations can be managed by a smaller team.
Best Ag employs six full-time staff across its grain and almond enterprises and brings in seasonal workers when required.
For Peter Best, however, the move into almonds is about more than simply adding another crop.
It is an investment in the long-term future of the business and the next generation of Australian agriculture.
As thousands more trees take root at Goodnight in coming years, the orchard's story is still in its early chapters.
But for a family that has been farming the district for more than a century, the signs are already promising that almonds will become a permanent part of the landscape.