Record-breaking agriculture sector surpasses $ 2 billion for the first time

Guy Barnett, Minister of Primary Industries and Water

The gross farm gate value of agricultural production in Tasmania exceeded $ 2 billion for the first time.

Tasmania’s 2019-2020 Agri-Food Scoreboard shows that seasonal conditions, access to irrigation and export growth are the main drivers of the continued expansion of the agricultural industry, which has grown by 13% to reach $ 2.15 billion.

The state’s aggregate agri-food value increased to $ 3.22 billion, and the value of food produced after packaging and processing reached $ 5.27 billion.

The sustainable agriculture, forestry and fishing sector is Tasmania’s second largest sector, employing around 14,500 people, nearly three-quarters of them full-time, and accounting for 9.1% of gross state product in 2019-2020.

The strong agricultural performance recorded in the Agri-Growth Scorecard demonstrates why Tasmanian agriculture continues to dominate the country, and we remain on track to achieve our goal of increasing the value of Tasmanian agricultural production sustainably to 10 billion dollars by 2050.

Some of the best performing sectors include:

• Fruits increased 22.1 percent.
• Meat increased 20.4 percent.
• Vegetables rose 13 percent.
• Dairy products grew 10.6%, with record production volumes.

Farmers in Tasmania produce more than five times as much food as what is consumed in Tasmania, with the surplus being sold interstate and overseas. In 2019-2020, the value of international food exports from Tasmania reached a record high of $ 954 million and the value of total agri-food exports increased by 23% to reach $ 1.08 billion, accounting for around 29% of exports. Tasmania’s total goods.

Rabobank’s latest quarterly Rural Confidence Survey shows Tasmanian farmers remain among the most confident and optimistic in the country. For the second quarter in a row, 100% of Tasmanian farmers surveyed expected current trading conditions to hold or improve further over the next 12 months.

The Government of Tasmania is investing $ 153 million in more than 70 initiatives to sustainably develop the agri-food sector under the Tasmanian Sustainable Agri-Food Plan 2019-23 in partnership with industry and other important stakeholders.

We are supporting our farmers and nearly $ 50 million in additional funding is being invested under the Accelerate Agriculture Policy to accelerate progress towards the long-term goal of the sector.

This is in addition to the government’s commitment of $ 15 million to develop a premier agricultural area in Tasmania at Launceston, $ 7 million to modernize Tasmanian dairy and plant research farms and $ 2 million. to expand the strategic industry partnership program to support key agricultural sectors.

The Liberal Government of Tasmania thanks all the farmers, producers, businesses and organizations in Tasmania who have helped us develop the sector and achieve these outstanding agricultural achievements.

The 2019-2020 Agri-Food Scoreboard can be viewed online at: www.dpipwe.tas.gov.au/scorecards