Wagga Wagga Agricultural Institute celebrates 120 years

The NSW Primary Industries (NSW DPI) Wagga Wagga Agricultural Institute celebrated 120 years of agricultural research and development on Friday (26 October).

Institute Director, Deb Slinger, said the Institute was very proud of its achievements.

"The Institute has been dedicated to improving the profitability and sustainability of agriculture in southern NSW and has built a great rapport with the farming community," she said.

"It began as the Wagga Experimental Farm in 1892, which was the first regional research institute in NSW. The farm, in those days, comprised 1993 acres of the North Wagga Common with 1000 acres earmarked for crops including wheat, barley, oats, rye, peas, and even tobacco was tried.

"Some of the most famous names in Australian agriculture including George Valder, Nathan Cobb and William Farrer were involved in the first years of the experimental farm.

"The first cereal research commenced in 1893, when Dr Nathan Cobb trialled more than 200 varieties of wheat. By 1901, William Farrer had released his famous Federation wheat variety, and the farm had grown to 3300 acres running sheep, poultry and cereals.

"Initially, the Institute was to be named the 'Wheat Research Institute', due to the emphasis on wheat breeding, but recent developments in agriculture at the time swayed the name to encompass all aspects of agriculture."

Ms Slinger said some of the great achievements of the past 120 years include the soil phosphorus test 'Colwell P' still used today to identify fertiliser requirements, plus the recognition of the acid soil issue, which has led to the breeding of acid tolerant varieties and expanding the use of lime.

"Eighty per cent of the wheat sown in NSW and 40 per cent of the wheat sown in Australia were from varieties bred at the Institute with the release of 40 varieties of wheat and 15 of barley. The Institute went on to develop the southern hard varieties and those resistant to Septoria," she said.

"In 1995, 90 per cent of the canola sown in Australia was from the 19 varieties bred at Wagga Wagga, and today, research is taking place into molecular markers for canola to tolerate heat, drought, prevent shattering and disease resistance such as Blackleg.

"A wide range of pasture legumes have been released by the Institute including sub and balansa clovers that are the backbone of the annual pasture system in southern NSW.

"Institute trials were also responsible for an explosion in the area sown to lucerne in southern NSW. Plus further evaluation of pulse, wheat and barley varieties is ongoing at the Institute."

Ms Slinger said grazing, feed utilisation and forage conservation trials have had far-reaching consequences for fertiliser recommendations and animal production, with the national silage project, TopFodder Silage, a key contributor to the successful development of silage technology in Australia.

She said the success of the Institute‟s projects could be significantly attributed to the large, multi-disciplinary research and extension teams.

"We have a broad range of expertise covering all areas including livestock management, cropping systems, soil constraints, pathology, entomology, pasture improvement, weed management, cereal and oilseed science, regulatory roles and landscape systems," Ms Slinger said.

Photo from sarahc@sf.nsw.gov.au

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