University of Sydney and the NSW Wheat Research Foundation partnership marks milestone

The partnership continues to be one of the longest running farmer-research collaborations in the country.

The University of Sydney’s director of northern agriculture Guy Roth said during the 1950’s the wool industry was riding high, with wool selling for a pound a pound. 

The grazing industry on the black soil plains of the region was king and there was a belief that wheat could not be reliably grown west of the railway line or north of Narrabri.

“Visionary growers saw the need and established a research centre at Narrabri and many of these same growers set about changing the way wheat was sold and marketed,” Dr Roth said.

At this time, the university was seeing the impact of the release of its landmark variety “Gabo” – boosting production for growers and and with improved milling and bread baking qualities.

“Consumers were enjoying the improvement in bread quality,” he said.

“In those days there was only one wheat grade – fair average quality.” 

North West farmers set up the the Premium Wheat Growers’ Association, which later became the Prime Wheat Association.

“The early grower leadership had a significant impact on the grains industry here and nationally, through the association, their role in changing the sales and marketing of wheat from the one grade to one based on protein content and end use value, and via their foresight for the need for research and development to establish a viable grains industry in the region,” Dr Roth said.

These growers determined a research centre was needed with the capability to breed new wheat varieties and to undertake the agronomic research on better use of soil and water.

A number of them used their own funds – some mortgaged their farms – to take out an option on the property “Veone”, north of Narrabri, which they later transferred to a trust. They then invited the University of Sydney to operate and conduct research at the new facility.

The local grains industry was small in the 1950s with around 60,000 tonnes per annum of wheat being produced. Now Dr Roth estimates it at around 3 million tonnes.

“The site has continued to evolve and has seen transformational changes including the addition of land and more staff than at any other time in the site’s history,” Dr Roth said. 

“A core focus is pre-breeding research for heat and drought tolerance of wheat and chickpeas.

“The site is a hub for grains research that now covers 10 crops, weed management, crown rot solutions, and digital farming.”