Poppy growers cling to hope

DESPITE being hit hard by recent rainfall Tasmanian poppy growers are still hoping for a reasonable season. 

Torrential rain which saw more than 200mm fall in some key growing areas over five days has significantly impacted crops. 

Extractas Bioscience senior field officer Dylan Craw said the rain had a big impact in some areas and on individual growers. 

“There is significant damage from Exton to just north of Campbell Town,” Mr Craw said. 

“Either side of that is still really, really good, but there are growers in that area that have been significantly affected.” 

The rain event and waterlogged soils have damaged poppies as well as other crops such as peas and potatoes. 

Mr Craw said the rain had come at a crucial time in the growing season. 

“It was just too wet for too long,” he said. 

“As everyone knows poppies, as do other crops, hate wet feet and it has cost the individual growers and the com pany quite a bit. At any stage, to get 220mm is going to hammer the crop.” 

The scale of the damage is significant. 

“It’s definitely multiple hundreds of hectares,” Mr Craw said. 

“I would hesitate to say a thousand, but it would be close.” 

Mr Craw said some of the earlier sown crops have been worst affected. 

“There were a couple of crops that I know of that were almost flowering that have died in large patches of the paddock,” he said. 

“There’s quite a number of crops through Westwood that have survived and look quite good. Where they do have drainage and you can see its nice and green on the drainage lines and either side they have started to die and the ones without drainage have struggled on that weaker soil.” 

However, Mr Craw said growers in the northwest and northeast with red soils have fared much better. 

For southern growers, Mr Craw said the rain was actually welcomed after what had been a dry season. 

“It was shaping up really well and definitely looking above average,” he said. 

“Dry years suit crops because we can control the water that goes on so it’s pretty frustrating and heartbreaking.” 

Mr Craw said despite the recent warm and humid weather, the company’s disease control programs were keeping on top of any issues. 

“We have pretty good fungicide controls these days and seed treatments are very effective in reducing problems,” Mr Craw said. 

“Systemic mildew has been around long enough now that we have some good processes in place to keep it at a minimum.” 

With many of the crops now starting to flower, Mr Craw said some smaller rains would be welcome for the next couple of weeks. 

After that, they are hoping for warm dry weather to finish off the crops prior to harvest. 

The bulk of the crop will be harvested in February. 

“It was very wet at the start of planting, so all the harvesting dates have been pushed into that February time zone so it’s going to be very busy,” he said.