Tasmania is the perfect location for food and beverage production with a pristine natural environment, ideal climate, abundant water and arable land, freedom from many pests and diseases, seasonal advantages, strong research and development resources and GMO restrictions.
Pristine Natural Environment
Tasmania has the cleanest air in the world and a pristine natural environment which lends itself to premium food and beverage production.
This extends to the marine environment that supports a seafood industry including wild caught produce and aquaculture.
Ideal Climate
Tasmania has a temperate climate with regular rainfall, four seasons and without extreme weather events such as heat waves, heavy frosts or hailstorms that affect many other agricultural regions in Australia.
Climate change is less likely to affect Tasmania compared to elsewhere in Australian which makes it a good place to invest in producing food and beverages. This is especially important for wine growers as grapes are particularly sensitive to changes in temperature which may affect other areas sooner.
Abundant Water and Arable Land
Hundreds of mllions of dollars have been invested and continue to be invested in the development and operation of irrigation schemes that enhance the productive capacity of the State's agricultural industries and protect farmers from drought.
Around one quarter of the land area of the state is used for agriculture including meat, fruit, vegetable and dairy production.
Biosecurity
Tasmania's geographical isolation as an island together with strict biosecurity standards help exclude many of the pests and diseases that affect other agricultural regions in Australia.
Less pests and diseases also mean that less chemicals need to be used to protect produce.
Seasonal Advantages
Tasmania is perfectly situated to export out-of-season fresh produce to the northern hemisphere.
Research, Development and Innovation
The Tasmanian Government is aiming to grow the value of the State’s agriculture to $10 billion per year by 2050.
Investment in agricultural research and development is a key factor to achieving this goal and the Tasmanian Government provides a range of funding supporting sustainable growth and innovation through the Tasmanian Institute of Agriculture and other organisations such as the Centre for Food Innovation, the Research Centre for Innovative Horticulture & Hub for Transforming Food Industry, CSIRO Marine and Atmospheric Research, the Institute of Marine and Antarctic Studies and the Australian Maritime College.
GMO Restrictions
A moratorium on the commercial production of genetically modified produced is in place in Tasmania until at least 2029 which helps promote Tasmanian produce to health conscious consumers.