AgricultureID

State · AU-TAS

Tasmania

Cool-temperate maritime climate with mild summers and reliable year-round rainfall in the west and north; the eastern coast and the Midlands are notably drier in the rain shadow of the western highlands.

Major crop systems

  • Temperate horticulture — apples, cherries, berries
  • Vegetables for processing (potatoes, onions, brassicas)
  • Poppies (pharmaceutical opium alkaloids) and pyrethrum
  • Cereals and forages

Major livestock systems

  • Dairy cattle (an expanding sector in the north and northwest)
  • Sheep (fine Merino wool and prime lambs)
  • Beef cattle

Agricultural land: Fertile, reliably watered soils in the north and northwest support intensive dairy and vegetable cropping, while the Midlands are a wool-sheep and mixed-cropping zone increasingly served by new irrigation schemes. Irrigation: State irrigation schemes have expanded reliable water to the drier Midlands and north, underpinning dairy pasture, cropping, and horticulture.

Agroecological zones: Cfb (Oceanic (marine west coast))

Documented crops & livestock

Official institutions

  • Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics and Sciences (ABARES) — National agricultural research and statistics agency.
  • Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) — National statistical agency (agricultural census and surveys).
  • Department of Natural Resources and Environment Tasmania (NRE Tas) — State primary industries department.

Data coverage & limitations

Descriptive profile; subnational statistics are published by ABARES and the Australian Bureau of Statistics and are not reproduced numerically here.

  • Boundaries and administrative classification follow the official ISO 3166-2 system (AU-TAS).
  • Any statistics from official bodies are dated and source-specific; none are reproduced here.
  • Poppies (opium alkaloids) are a regionally significant crop with no dedicated AgricultureID entry.
  • Reliable rainfall in the north/west contrasts with the drier, irrigation-dependent Midlands and east.

Sources

This article draws on the following authoritative sources. See our sources & methodology for how they are selected.

  1. [1]FAO — Food and Agriculture Organization (opens in a new tab)

    Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO)

    Authoritative

    Cited for: Crop and livestock system context

    Type:
    Intergovernmental organization
    Jurisdiction:
    Global
    Accessed:
    2026-07-12
  2. [2]FAOSTAT — FAO statistical database (opens in a new tab)

    Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO)

    Authoritative

    Cited for: National agricultural production context

    Type:
    Intergovernmental organization
    Jurisdiction:
    Global
    Accessed:
    2026-07-12