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.

Agricultural authority

Verified against official government sources. AgricultureID is independent and not affiliated with these bodies.

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