ISLAND LIFE

Rob Henry grew up helping his parents farm paddocks full of sheep on their property at Cressy, in the state’s North. But it’s actually fields of bright yellow canola flowers that fill his days now.

The 67-year-old does not grow canola on his own 400ha property but instead processes crops produced at other Tasmanian farms.

And he says demand for the oil — and the canola meal that is created during the coldpressing process — is surging, with his Macquarie Oil Company now processing about 6000 tonnes of canola annually.

Oil from the factory is sold to Pure Food, fish feed manufacturer Skretting and Tasmanian Stockfeed Services. The canola meal is also used for stockfeed production.

Because of the state’s cooler climate, the canola seed grown here has a higher oil content than canola grown in other parts of the country.

Henry says Tasmanian canola seed has about 45 per cent oil compared to mainland seed at 42 per cent.

He admits farming has changed since the early days when he left school and travelled interstate for two years of study at an agricultural college.

Twenty seven years ago he won a scholarship that allowed him to travel the world for six months to study farming practices in the UK, Europe, Canada and the US, which inspired him to think differently about farming.

He and his wife Kathy also grow and extract essential oils — including fennel, parsley and peppermint — on their property and have a dairy and sheep farm.