Roseworthy Campus Open Day 2008: Keith picks up a few pointers on farming, in the Mid North region of South Australia
The Roseworthy Agricultural College, now a campus of the University of Adelaide is famous around Australia. 1883 was the year the imposing building went up on what used to be known as 'Olive Hill Farm', purchased by the government for 6 pound an acre. The first Agricultural College in the country was born and Roseworthy's long and vital involvement in Australian agriculture was underway.
After just one generation of farming it became clear the soils of the Adelaide Plains needed some help. John Daniel Custance came to the rescue. Roseworthy's first Professor of Agriculture, he identified the soils were depleted of phosphate. The use of Superphosphate was to be the first of many breakthroughs at Roseworthy.
Professor Phil Hynd, Director: "This place developed some of the first wheat varieties, did some of the first fertiliser trails, it's been at the forefront of agriculture and natural resource management, animal science, crop science and so on."
It's always been a working farm combining the theory learned in the lecture theatre with the practical in the paddock - and it still is.
Professor Phil Hynd, Director: "The big issues in animal production now are around welfare and one of the big welfare issues for sheep is lamb survival. We've got to get a lot better at it because 20 percent of lambs die shortly after birth. That's an issue that these students are learning about and we have to tackle."
Back in 1907 the first ever tractor demonstration in South Australia was held at Roseworthy. We've come a long way since that first demonstration of the Saunderson tractor in a paddock out the back. And the progress is most obvious in the lush wheat fields at Roseworthy. This is just one of 100-thousand experimental plots scattered throughout Australia which make up one of the biggest cereal breeding companies in the world!
Professor Phil Hynd, Director: "We trial the different varieties of wheat in different districts of Australia so we get the right varieties for the right areas. One of these breeds could be what's feeding you in the next few years."
That's been Roseworthy's raison d'etre from day one - cutting edge research and education on dryland farming, natural resource management and animal production - and it's set to continue. The sprawling, relaxed, garden like campus will be home to as many as 600 or so students over the next few years with the inclusion of a new Veterinary School - another first for South Australia. Phil Hynd reckons the future for the Roseworthy Campus is looking good.
Professor Phil Hynd, Director: "The more things change the more they stay the same. In the 1880s and early 1900s South Australia had long years of drought, had to increase agricultural production, had problems with erosion and soil stability and so on. A lot of the same issues that we face now but a lot of the technology has changed - I think that's the thing that's really, we've got new technologies to throw at these problems."
In agriculture these days, everything you do, everything you plant has got to be very smart and that's what the Roseworthy Campus of the University of Adelaide's all about. It's proud of its past but it's really about our future.
You can see the 'Science Behind the Product' for yourself at the 125th anniversary Open Day on Sunday 2 November. Plenty of displays, food, live music, sheep dog trials, working horses, model train rides - and lots more - it'll be a great day. Entry is free. Get to Roseworthy by following the signs from the Gawler bypass.
Roseworthy Campus Open Day
Sunday 2 November 2008
11am - 5pm
Ph: 8303 3317Published 26th October 2008
