Dr John Gladstones, the father of lupins and serradella, as well as a leading light in the development of the WA wine industry, features in an outstanding book highlighting agricultural research since the 1950s to 2000.
Australia's Agriculture Transformation, written by Craig Pearson, retired professor of agriculture, and a past coordinator of research throughout Australia and New Zealand, captures some of the most significant developments in agriculture in the so called golden period between 1950 to 2000.
I particularly value this book as it describes a lot of research that led to the transformation of once poorly regarded acid country into first rate cropping and pasture lands. Much of the area I have worked with over the past 55 years benefits from this research, including our own property.
Lupin in its wild state shattered badly and seeds were bitter, major impediments to its usefulness.
A challenge to Dr Gladstones until mutants were discovered that separately overcame these problems and he set about combining them into varieties suitable for growing.
In effect, he invented a crop that has proved profitable to many thousands of farmers. Not only did he need to overcome the bitterness and shattering, but he had to build these features into varieties that were early maturing, could yield well, and also be resistant to other diseases.
Lupins also performed well on light acid country, soil types where most other crops performed poorly. A major pasture breakthrough occurred when Dr Gladstones pioneered the development of the legume species serradella. It also thrived on commonly regarded poor soils; acidic and sandy. The earliest serradella variety was too late in maturity for most medium and lower rainfall areas and major research was required to find, breed, and release higher performing varieties.
Our property is an example of how important this research has been. Serradella is our principal winter legume, combined with hard seeded sub clovers on the less light soil areas. Not only is serradella suited to light and acid soils, it can be very productive, long term persistent, combines well with tropical grasses, is non bloating, and high quality feed.
The history of sub clover is a detailed one with many researchers providing important breakthroughs. In my early days as a district agronomist sub clover was in its infancy in many areas. Few varieties had much hard seed, essential for long term persistence, and fewer were early enough in maturity for other than higher rainfall areas. Many early varieties were high in oestrogens that led to low lambing levels.
Dalkeith variety, released from John Gladstones research, was one that proved to be a major breakthrough. It was early maturing, had a good level of hard seed, was low in oestrogens, and proven very persistent in many environments. It still remains our main sub clover variety, despite being released many years ago. Even earlier maturing hard seeded varieties, like Nungarin, have seen sub clover popular in low and erratic rainfall environments.
Craig Pearson details how agriculture expansion, in area and productivity, was revolutionised from the 1950s onwards. Before then legumes in the pasture and crop system were hardly used, especially in medium and lower rainfall areas. What happened over the next 50 years was extraordinary and involved an enormous amount of successful research. Many farmers and extension officers were also part of this effort, trying successfully new innovations. This era saw enormous change and was supported by a high level of research investment.
The book is not only about John Gladstones, but presents a highly readable account of many aspects of agricultural progress from 1950 onwards including the story of medics, more suited to less acidic and alkaline soils and notes the release of varieties that made a big difference in lower and medium rainfall environments. Over 28 million hectares of pasture today contain developed medics, with the 1955 release of Jemalong in NSW being the start of many variety upgrades.
For a copy of Australia's Agricultural Transformation contact Craig Pearson, email: cpearsonbooks@gmail.com or 0484 361 279.
Next week: Stubble cover vital for crops and pastures.
- Bob Freebairn is an agricultural consultant based at Coonabarabran. Email robert.freebairn@bigpond.com or contact 0428 752 149.