SASSAFRAS cropping and livestock farmer Rod Layton said he was proud to be awarded State Top Crop at GlaxoSmithKline's award dinner in Launceston last month.
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Mr Layton has been farming poppies since the 1970s, and received the top honour for his most recent harvest. His poppies had an alkaloid level of more than 75 kilograms per hectare.
"You feel very proud when you when something like that, don't you?" Mr Layton said. "It was the highest alkaloid level for all of GlaxoSmithKline's crops."
Mr Layton said his crop had managed to mostly avoid the outbreak of downy mildew that affected poppy crops across Tasmania last season, having been planted in August.
He credited his win to a combination of good climactic conditions and the right soils, as well as consistent watering throughout the life of the crop.
"My son Adam helped with the irrigating and ground preparation, so it wasn't all my effort," Mr Layton said.
GSK opiates division general manager Steve Morris said reaching an alkaloid level of 75kg per hectare had been "fantastic".
"To achieve such a result in the face of the challenges the industry faced last year (with systemic downy mildew) is an extraordinary achievement," he said.
