AT harvest time, Tasmania’s fields are covered by vivid yellow and red blooms, barley, wheat and vegetable crops. The multihued landscape is an upshot of a changing agricultural scene, where many farmers are seeing the benefits of irrigated cropping.
Rob O’Connor has already made the switch on his land in the Avoca region, Tasmania. The producer is busy sowing an eclectic range of crops on his Fingal Valley property, Benham.
On what was traditionally a superfine wool-growing property, Mr O’Connor has turned his 19,500 hectare farm into a cropping dream, with more than 1000 mega litres of water storages fuelling an increasingly irrigated venture.
The property comprises 60 per cent native forestry, with 6000ha of total farming land.
“Eventually we’d like to be all irrigated,” he said.
“At the moment, it’s a combination of dryland and irrigation.”
Recently Merinos, crossbreds and an 800-head Angus herd have had to make room for crops such as barley, wheat, triticale, canola, lupins, poppies, potatoes and other niche crops, with the addition of new irrigation infrastructure.
A total area of 1500/ha is cropped each year, with irrigation carried out in spring and summer.
The irrigation addition at Benham is a clear sign what is happening across the entire State of Tasmania, with the government rolling out a $400 million public-private expansion of the industry.
“We still run 12-13,000 sheep,” Mr O’Connor said.
“Wool has always been our main staple, but we decided to take cropping seriously about 10 years ago.”
After dry seasons plagued Tasmania for a decade, he realised the secret to a viable future at Benham lay in diversification.
For a seventh generation farmer, he said it was critical for the historic farm to keep evolving and developing to suit a changing market place and environment.
He and wife Hanna took over from parents, Frank and Prue, in 2002.
Alongside developing his property’s water storage capabilities, he also installed several centre pivots.
The family can also access water from three different rivers, which cross the property.
For the moment, the set up seems to be working well.
This year, the O’Connors even decided to try their luck in the inaugural Campbell Town cropping competition.
The competition has added a different dimension to the historic wool show, which conventionally celebrates Tasmania’s best Merino sheep.
The decision paid off, with Benham snaring the top barley award, which is sponsored by Cascade.
“The results were measured on last year’s crop, which was very good,” he said.
It yielded about 4.9 tonnes a hectare.
For a back-to-back barley crop, he said the results were a surprise.
“There were no disease issues; it was extremely clean, which got us over the line,” he said.
“All our barley was good actually. It wasn’t exposed to weather damage, which came later in the season.”
The crop scored 86 out of a possible 100.
He says the new competition would be a valuable concept heading into the future.
“Cropping is becoming such an important part of our industry,” he said.
“It’s great to see it promoted in that way.”
At the moment, he says sowing is going well.
“The season has been fantastic so far,” he said.
“It’s touch and go, but that’s always been the case.”
Across the valley at Campbell Town, the Lyne family - who have farmed for several generations in the region - are also moving towards irrigated cropping.
“We’ve certainly lifted the cropping component of our business,” Crosby Lyne said.
“At the moment we have the Elizabeth River and farm dams, but we still need more water."