Rewards for poppy growers

Extractas Bioscience Poppy Growers will benefit from increased prices and more area for the coming season.

Close to 9000 hectares of crop is being sought by the company following a doubling of hectares from 2024 to 2025.

Extractas Bioscience met with Poppy Growers Tasmania representatives this week to announce the offer following increased demand for the products produced at its Westbury Facility.

CEO, Dr Ross Murdoch outlined changes in the world market leading to the need for more hectares of crop as stock levels of Oriparvine are low throughout the supply chain.

“Use of our products in obesity drugs and our company gaining ‘main supplier status’ with the largest producers of Nal Compounds are responsible for the increase” he said.

Three varieties will be grown this year, the oriparvine variety, Eve, increases in price by 7.5 percent making a total price increase of over 20 percent for the past three seasons.

In a further move to reduce risk to growers, the minimum price per tonne also increases from $1100 per tonne to $2000.

Thebaine, Ted will increase by a further 3 percent following a rise of 6 percent in 2024, while Noscapine will increase by 15 percent on top of 6 percent last year, with further improvement possible due to a new seed line to be grown this season.

Dr Murdoch also announced that a change in company trading terms has allowed a return to paying growers within 30 days following harvest.

"We have listened to our growers wanting a return to this payment model and believe it will be well received" he said.

Growers can also still choose to be paid on the spread payment model which provides for a portion of crop payment prior to harvest with the total value of the crop spread over the months from January until May.

Plans are not to extend the "Bonus" payment model moving forward, which paid a bonus for crop monies deferred until August, as PGT indicated that moving back to 30 day terms would be well received by growers.

Further incentives were announced yesterday with the aim of helping growers mitigate risk and increase returns.

To safeguard from water damage a payment of $200/hectare will be paid to growers to offset the cost of installing raised beds which were widely used in the northern midlands some years ago.

“This production method was promoted by our company and was highly successful during a period of large areas of poppies and is expected to again be a production booster,” Dr Murdoch said.