Big wet took a bite out of vegie values

AN industry scorecard shows the impact of huge rain events and seasonal conditions on Tasmania’s vegetable growers.

In 2015-2016, two big rain events and a dry spring led to a drop of 12.4 per cent in the value of the sector.

Figures from the Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics and Sciences show Tasmania accounted for 10 per cent of Australia’s 2300 vegetablegrowing farms.

Nationally vegetables made up 6 per cent of the gross $3.6 billion agricultural production.

ABARES’ figures show nationally the number of vegetable farms dropped by 37 per cent between 2006-2007 and 2015-2016, mostly in Queensland, Victoria and NSW, while Tasmania was stable.

The State Government’s Tasmanian Agri-Food scorecard 2015-2016 showed the gross value of the vegetable industry in the North-West was $107 million, from 5285ha on 205 farms.

The North produced $87 million on 6256ha across 158 farms. In the South 32 farms on 841ha produced $23 million. The state’s farmgate value was $217 million with a processed food value of almost $560 million.

Agricultural economist at the AgriGrowth department Mary Bennett said while the seasonal conditions hit the value of vegetables because of a drop in production volumes, the industry did not shrink thanks to increased planting.

“The rain interfered with some vegetables, for example onions, and carrot yields increased. Carrot exports almost doubled to $6.7 million from $3.6 million the previous year because of more export markets opening up,” she said.