Water is key for Randall the broc-star

A beautiful 6ha crop of broccoli to be harvested this week is the latest successful rotation of food grown on the rich, productive land owned by the Parker family at Milton Farm, Don.

The winter broccoli was grown by privately-owned fresh produce company Harvest Moon, which has operations in Tasmania, Victoria, New South Wales and Queensland. 

For farm owner Randall Parker, leasing land to Harvest Moon helps get the most from the relatively small 38ha farm, which also has onions and carrots in the ground and also grows pasture to support an impressive herd of black and red Angus steers that go to JBS.

Over the years he has also grown potatoes, pyrethrum, poppies and peas, all while working as a field technician for Tas Gas Networks.

Tapping into the Don Irrigation Scheme has allowed Randall to take on the contract to grow broccoli, which was planted as seedlings in May and irrigated as necessary to make sure that it was perfect for hand picking by the Harvest Moon team.

Carrots that were sown in August on 4ha are also about to spring out of the ground.

Brother Martin Parker, acting inspector at Devonport Police Station, also grows grain and peas among other crops on his share of the family farm.

“The access to irrigation has basically enabled me to double the amount of crops I can grow,” Randall said.

“That water security is vital, and really I wouldn’t even have considered growing onions without it.

Randall’s mum Katrina still lives on the farm, proudly watching her sons,the fifth generation of Parkers, make the most of the land that was farmed by her late husband Eric and his family before him.

First settlers John and Sarah Parker and their three children moved onto the 200 acre property a few years after arriving in Tasmania from Sydestone, Norfolk, England on the cargo ship Southern Eagle in 1857.

They became some of the “Norfolk Creekers” who took up land between the rivers Forth and Don, clearing the land to establish Milton Farm.

They had four more children, but it was their second son, Thomas who eventually took over the farm and it has remained in the family ever since.

Tasmania produced more than 3300 tonnes of broccoli, valued around $12 million, during the 2022-23 season, accounting for about four percent of Australia’s total broccoli production.