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Average State Yields (approximately)
| South Australia | 1076ha | 96100 tonnes/year |
| Tasmania | 1591ha | 98800 tonnes/year (85% crops exported to Europe, UK and Japan) |
| Queensland | 915ha | 28900 tonnes/year |
| NSW | 526ha | 19400 tonnes/year |
| Victoria | 362ha | 18700 tonnes/year |
| Western Australia | 362ha | 21800 tonnes/year |
DATA from AUSTRALIAN Bureau Statistics
Ref 7121.0 – Agricultural Commodities, Australia, 2008-09
Ref 7121.0 – Agricultural Commodities, Australia, 2008-09
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| | 2007 | 2008 | 2009 | NSW | Vic | Qld | SA | WA | TAS |
| Production(t) | 246500 | 254400 | 283800 | 19400 | 18700 | 28900 | 96100 | 21800 | 98800 |
| Area(ha) | 5413 | 5013 | 5463 | 526 | 362 | 915 | 1708 | 362 | 1591 |
| Yield (t/ha) | 46 | 51 | 52 | 37 | 52 | 32 | 56 | 60 | 62 |
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| Annual rainfall average: | 398.6ml |
| Population: | 75323 |
| Other crops: | broccoli, cauliflower, lettuce, asparagus, parsnips, celery, zucchini, cucumber, strawberries. |
| Fast facts: | |
- Two Wells is situated north of Adelaide on the Adelaide Plains.
- The town was officially named on June 21, 1990.
- Its name came about after the first settlers of the area used 2 Aboriginal wells for fresh water.
- Two Wells has retained a multitude of its original historical buildings and cottages that have been dated as far back as the 1860’s.
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| Annual rainfall average: | 487.8ml |
| Population: | 15529 |
| Other crops: | potatoes, grapes |
| Fast facts: |
- The town was established in 1852 adjacent to the Tatiara Creek.
- It was the site of a base camp created by Police Inspector Alexander Tolmer
- Bordertown isn’t on the border it is 18kms away.
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| Annual rainfall average: | 706.0 ml |
| Population: | 47521 |
| Other crops: | potatoes, carrots, apples, grapes |
| Fast facts: |
- Mount Gambier was proclaimed as a city on the 9th of December 1954.
- Mount Gambier is the regional centre of the Limestone Coast in the South East of South Australia
- Mount Gambier’s mountain was named on 3rd December, 1800, when Lieutenant James Grant on board HMS Lady Nelson, sighted two prominent peaks, one which he named Gambier’s Mountain after Lord Gambier R.N.
- In 1839 Stephen Henty became the first white man to see the Blue Lake. He returned with cattle in 1841.
- With average depths of 80 metres the Blue lake contains 36,000 million litres
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| Annual rainfall average: | 314.5 ml |
| Population: | 19101 |
| Other crops: | carrots, mushrooms, corn, strawberries |
| Fast facts: |
- The River Murray was named in 1830, after the then Secretary of State for the Colonies.
- The River Murray is of national significance as Australia’s greatest river.
- Major settlements were not established until after 1887
- The first irrigation settlement on the Murray was Renmark. It was established by Canadian brothers George and William Chaffey.
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| Annual rainfall average: | 775.9 ml |
| Population: | 33946 |
| Other crops: | brassicas, potatoes, beans, peas, carrots, asparagus, walnuts, cherries, apples and apricots. |
| Fast facts: |
- It is one of the world’s most mountainous islands and while peaks do not tower to great heights, they are unique in their serrated profile.
- This geology reflects Tasmania’s connection millions of years ago to Antarctica.
- Tasmania is one of the few places in the world were Dolerite rocks dominate the landscape.
- Tasmania has more than 1,000 mountain peaks, four mild seasons, and more than 40 per cent of our Island is protected as national parks and reserves.
- The main Island, which compares in size to West Virginia, the Republic of Ireland or Hokkaido, is home to about 500,000
- The basaltic soils are a feature in growing the magnificent Tasmanian onions.
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| Annual rainfall average: | 775.9 ml |
| Population: | 33946 |
| Other crops: | cauliflower and broccoli |
| Fast facts: |
- Gatton is one of Queensland’s earliest rural settlements. Located 90 km west of Brisbane and 104 m above sea level.
- The area was explored as early as 1825 when Major Edmund Lockyer passed through the area.
- By 13 April 1855 the village of Gatton (it was probably named after Gatton, Roxburghshire, Scotland) was gazetted, and by 1858 it had become a major stop over point (it was a change over point for the horses on the Royal Mail) on the road from Brisbane to the Darling Downs.
- The town was officially surveyed in 1859 and town allotments went on sale in 1860. By 1875 the railway line from Ipswich had reached the area and the town expanded rapidly as a service centre for the surrounding farms.
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| Annual rainfall average: | 533 ml |
| Population: | 4835 |
| Other crops: | table grapes, pomegranates, watermelon, rockmelon, pumpkin and garlic |
| Fast facts: |
- Situated in southern inland Queensland on the Balonne River, it is 500 kms west of Brisbane.
- In the 1880s Prickly Pear was introduced as a garden hedge but with no known predator it escaped and inundated large areas of Qld and NSW rendering the land useless.. By 1912 Prickly Pear was recognised as a large problem and the Prickly Pear Travelling Commission was established.
- By 1925 the moth Cactoblastis spp was imported from South America, bred and released. Within 10 years vast areas of impoverished country were returned to high productivity. This is an important example of biological control.
- In 1974 the first Queensland Cotton ginnery was built in St George.
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| Annual rainfall average: | 678.2 ml |
| Population: | 34621 |
| Other crops: | table grapes, pomegranates, watermelon, rockmelon, pumpkin, broccoli and garlic |
| Fast facts: |
- The town was the childhood home of P.L Travers who wrote the Mary Poppins stories.
- The town rose to prominence in 1886 with the discovery of an ancient cranium that challenged ideas about how long Aboriginals have occupied Australia. Tests revealed that the Talgai skull was at least 15, 000 years old.
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| Annual rainfall average: | 875.1 ml |
| Population: | 154153 |
| Other crops: | table grapes, watermelon, rockmelon, pumpkin and garlic |
| Fast facts: |
- Located approximately 90km from Brisbane.
- This area was settled in the early 1800s, by English and German pioneers
- Agriculture/ Horticulture are the main industries, 90% of Queensland carrots are grown here.
- This area is home to many beautiful national parks, some are heritage listed.
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| Annual rainfall average: | 389.4ml |
| Population: | 42051 |
| Other crops: | citrus, wine grapes, rice, winter cereals, maize, soy-beans and livestock |
| Fast facts: |
- Griffith is the heart of the Murrumbidgee Irrigation Area (MIA) and is one of the largest wine and vegetable production areas in Australia.
- The area is also the home of the Wiradjuri nation, taking up a third of the state of NSW.
- Griffith was originally designed by Walter Griffin, a landscape architect from Chicago.
- Griffith was established in 1916 as part of the Murrumbidgee Irrigation Area project, designed to irrigate the dry lands of the Riverina and make them suitable for farming.
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| Annual rainfall average: | 300 -400ml per year |
| Population: | 14000 |
| Other crops: | potatoes, wheat |
| Fast facts: |
- Hamilton is a city located at the intersection of the Glenelg Highway and the Henty Highway The Hamilton Highway connects it to Geelong.
- Hamilton claims to be the “Wool Capital of the World“, based on its strong historical links to sheep grazing which continue today.
- Casterton is a town located on the Glenelg Highway, 42 kilometres east of the South Australian border, in the Shire of Glenelg. The Glenelg River passes through the town. Casterton derives its name for the Roman word meaning ‘walled city’, due to the lush green hills which surround the town.
- Coleraine is a town named after the town in County Londonderry, Northern Ireland. It is located on the Glenelg Highway
- At the 2006 census, the urban area of Coleraine had a population of 991.
- The area was first settled by Europeans in 1838 for pastoral grazing. The town was surveyed later and the Post Office opened on November 16, 1854
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| Annual rainfall average: | 786.4 ml |
| Population: | 16405 |
| Other crops: | potatoes |
| Fast facts: |
- Port Fairy was discovered in the late 1820’s when Captain James Wishart, sought shelter from a storm, and the town was named after his small cutter, “The Fairy”.
- From the early 1830’s, the port became popular as sealers and whalers from Tasmania fished the southern coast of Victoria.
- The first regular European visitors were Bass Strait sealers on seasonal hunting expeditions from Tasmania.
- At its peak in the 1850’s, the port was the second busiest in Australia; Wool, wheat and gold were loaded onto great sailing ships bound for England.
- Today Port Fairy still boasts one of Victoria’s largest fishing fleets. The seas provide good catches of shark, crayfish and abalone.
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| Annual rainfall average: | 300ml |
| Population: | 38500 |
| Other crops: | brassica |
| Fast facts: |
- The name Werribee is an aboriginal name meaning backbone or spine.
- Soldiers settling in Werribee after the First World War made their own farms, creating a new suburb called Werribee South in 1925.
- During the First and Second World Wars, considerable military infrastructure was established in, or near, Werribee.
- Some Crops are grown in recycled water from the Werribee sewage treatment plant
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| Annual rainfall average: | 1020.8 ml |
| Population: | 40114 |
| Fast facts: |
- Thorpdale is in the Gippsland region of Victoria, about 140 km south-east of Melbourne, The town’s history dates back as far as the 1860’s.
- Thorpdale’s rich red volcanic soil grows some of the very best vegetable crops.
- In 1898 the Red Tuesday fires burnt more than 260,000 hectares, and virtually destroyed Thorpdale.
- The area is the gateway to the Strzelecki ranges, Thorpdale also has many natural attractions including Henderson’s Gully, Trafalgar South Lookout and the Narracan Falls.
- It was here that they found the world’s tallest tree, a gigantic Mountain Ash which grew to 114.3m.
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| Annual rainfall average: 228.4 ml |
| Population: 4559 |
| Fast facts: |
- Carnarvon is a coastal town situated approximately 900 kilometres north of Perth, Western Australia
- The town was founded in 1883, initially as a port and supply centre for the surrounding region, and is the administrative centre for the Shire of Carnarvon.
- Some of the main economic activities are: agriculture, including cattle, goats, sheep and wool, and horticulture, the major industry of the area.
- A range of products are grown along the Gascoyne River, particularly bananas (mainly Cavendish bananas) and tomatoes, as well as grapefruit, onions, mangoes and table grapes. Climatic advantages enable the growers to meet out of season demand both locally and in export markets.
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| Annual rainfall average: 790.7 ml |
| Population: 4573 |
| Fast facts: |
- Kununurra is a town in far northern Western Australia located at the eastern extremity of the Kimberley Region approximately 37 kilometres (23 mi) from the border with the Northern Territory.
- The town is situated in among the scenic hills and ranges of the far north-east Kimberley Region, having an abundance of fresh water, conserved by the Ord River Diversion dam and the main Ord River Dam
- The tropical agriculture crops grown in the Ord River Irrigation Area (ORIA) have changed over the years. Tourism and mining have also become important to the local economy.
- The dry season period from April to September is generally regarded as the most popular time to visit, when heat and humidity levels are lower and road & park accessibility is at its best. In the towns 53 years of weather records, rainfall of over 5mm has never been recorded in the month of August, with most Augusts being completely rainless.
- The build-up season from October to December is characterised by high heat and humidity levels. The oppressive conditions of the build-up often give way to spectacular electrical storms along with dramatic lightning displays which crack in to the night over the rugged Kimberley landscape. Such storms however bring little rainfall and lightning will often start bushfires in the surrounding scrub.
- The summer monsoon period between January and March can often cause accessibility issues and total closures with many roads and national parks due to heavy rainfall events. Days are overcast, but still hot and heavy downpours of rain are a frequent occurrence.
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| Annual rainfall average: | 600-900ml |
| Population: | 4234 |
| Other crops: | Many other crops are grown eg: carrots, brassica, Rhubarb, herbs, shallot |
| Fast facts: |
- Manjimup is a town 307km south of Perth.
- The town of Manjimup is a regional centre for the largest shire in the South West of Western Australia.
- At the 2006 census, Manjimup had a population of 4,239
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| Annual rainfall average: | 953.6ml |
| Population: | 22,529 |
| Other crops: | Potatoes, carrots, some brassicas and fruit |
| Fast facts: |
- “Myalup” means place of the paperbark tree, which comes from the Aboriginal word “mya” meaning paperbark tree.
- The Myalup and surrounding area was settled in the 1840’s when the first settlers arrived at Australia.
- Prior to European settlement the Noongar Ganeang Tribe wandered on the eastern shores of freshwater Lake Josephine in the summer months on the south end of Lake Preston, it is rumoured that the western side of the lake was taboo.
- In 1890 it was discovered that the soil was lacking phosphate, this led to superphosphate being introduced to the pastures.
- In 1940 the land surrounding the coastal areas lacking in the trace elements; copper, cobalt and zinc. The addition of these elements to the soil improved the soil quality.
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