Tasmanian growers look for good poppy yields

Poppy growers on the Apple Isle are about to start harvesting. See how the state’s 6000ha crop is holding up.

Poppy growers in Tasmania are hoping for fine weather before harvest of the state’s 6000ha crop starts in the next couple of weeks.

Sisters Creek grower and Tasmanian Poppy Growers president, Michael Nichols said his crop on the north west coast was about three weeks off harvest.

He said areas to the south of the state would possibly be harvested sooner.

Tasmanian Poppy Growers Association president and Sisters Creek, Tasmania grower Michael Nichols.

Michael estimated that in some parts of the state, 25 per cent of the crop was wiped out due to heavy rainfall of 180mm to 250mm in December last year.

“We got about 100mm here, but there were other parts there was just too much (rain),” he said.

“Some of the people around Cressy and Longford got hit hard by that rain.”

Apart from the rain, which arrived in abundance, Michael said the season had been satisfactory.

“We have had a reasonable growing season with a bit of sunshine and heat,” he said.

Growers were hoping to achieve good assays, or alkaloid content, for the various varieties that produce morphine, codeine and thebaine.

Michael said poppies were a crop that could be difficult to gauge in terms of yields and output simply by looking at the crop.

He said an excellent-looking crop may not in fact yield as well as another crop that appears on the surface that doesn’t look quite as good.

“It’s hard to judge a poppy crop before we harvest,” he said.

Michael said between now and when harvest starts, fine weather would certainly be welcome. “The worst thing that could happen from now on would be a big rain event,” he said.

In addition to growing poppies, Michael also grows potatoes, onions, wheat, barley, corn and runs beef cattle.