Jump in production for Tasmanian poppy growers

Farmers in Tasmania are gearing up to plant a whopping 9000ha poppy crop, three times the 3000ha planted last season.

Farmers in Tasmania are gearing up to plant a whopping 9000ha poppy crop, three times the 3000ha planted last season.

In addition to the expansion in growing area, price indications of around $6000 a hectare also bode well for the island state, which has been grappling with drought conditions.

The metrics have combined to instil confidence in poppy growers, and Thirstane farmer Nathan Richardson said there was still an opportunity for some sort of seasonal break.

He will plant poppies in September, but many growers will sow the crop as early as next month, and paddocks will be prepared in June.

“This is good news for our industry. It used to be wall-to-wall poppies in Tasmania once upon a time, and now it’s looking like that again,” he said.

Mr Richardson said conditions were dry, but there was general optimism.

His property has received 150mm of rain for the calendar year so far.

“We would normally see double that,” he said.

Extractas Bioscience field operations manager Noel Beven. Picture: Nikki Davis-Jones

Extractas Bioscience field operations manager Noel Beven said although it was extremely dry, he was confident growers would be able to lift poppy production to meet demand from overseas purchasers.

“The requirements for poppies from our company has increased dramatically,” he said.

“We are looking to see a substantial increase this year compared to last year.

“Growers are going from 3000ha to around 9000ha.”

The majority of poppy crops would be grown under irrigation, but there were also opportunities to sow in dryland conditions.

Mr Beven said it was early days to quote prices but some of the main varieties had increased by around 10 per cent in value.

While planting is a significant increase, production in Tasmania hit around 28,000ha in 2012.

Oripavine poppies were sought after, and there was still solid demand for Noscapine, Codeine and Thebaine, with Tasmania known as the world’s largest producer of alkaloid material.

Mr Beven said demand was driven by the pharmaceuticals industry and there were growers who may not have grown poppies for a few seasons who were coming back into the industry to help meet demand.

Other growers would look to expand the amount of hectares they plant.