PIRSA Oral History Programme –State Library reference no. for Somerville Collection OH 675/17.

An interview conducted by Bernard O’Neil with Bob Fawcett of Klemzig, South Australia in regards to the history of the Department of Agriculture on 14 December 2004.

Time Subject Proper names
 Tape 1, Side A 
0.25 Born 1927 and educated in Kapunda; family farm; developing interest in botany; scholarship; employed interstate; postgraduate studies in Ag. Science; move interstate again Roseworthy College; George Hazel; CSIRO, Primary Industry Division; Canberra; Southern Tablelands; Jim Quirk; Adelaide University; Waite Institute; Harold Jenkins; Narrabri, NSW
6:00 Research – nutritional work on wheat cropping, soil experiments, stubble retention Tamworth; Narrabri; Sydney University; Wheat Research Institutes; Dick Jackson; NSW; ICI
9:30 Interest in research Narrabri
11:00 Family farm sold; parents’ retirement; family history; work overseas; postgraduate supervision; joining Department of Agriculture, 1975; continuing research interests in soil conservation Kapunda; NSW; Thailand; University of Sydney; CSIRO; Central Region Research Centre; Chainat; Colombo Plan; Allan Beare; Sydney; Northfield; Helen Fawcett; Narrabri
18:40 Job interview; work interests – nutrition, land management, tillage, stubble retention, herbicides Beare; Sydney; Canberra; Northfield; Adelaide; Lameroo; South East; Shearers
20:50 Colleagues in soil conservation research; Department’s research role Reg French; Jeff Schultz; State Wheat Committee; Wheat Research Council; Northfield
23:20 Visiting farms; experimental plots; district agronomists Fred Maynard; Lameroo; John Hannay
25:00 Regionalisation Northfield
26:25 Liaison with staff; field days; tillage workshop; agricultural shows; research results; workshop publications Agricultural Bureaux; CSIRO; Albert Rovira; Victoria; Horsham Research Institute; Northfield
 Tape 1, Side B 
0:05 Distributing the results; workshops; Journal of Agriculture CSIRO; Peter King
5:00 Land management system Rovira
9:20 Liaison across the Department Halbury; Maynard; Lameroo
10:25 Work in own independent ‘empire’ 
11:35 Recollections of working at Northfield; research funds Northfield; Waite
14:45 Contact with interstate colleagues; conferences; trust funds Narrabri; Wheatgrowers Association
17:50 Collaborative work CSIRO
19:05 Importance of stubble retention work; environment movement – surface cover, herbicides, farming techniques Northfield
25:25 Theoretical vs practical farming Northfield; Chris Rudd; Mid North; Thailand
27:55 Retirement in 1992; career highlights – Landcare Awards and Banksia Awards, total land management Narrabri; Canberra
 Tape 2, Side A 
0:05 Individual contributions to particular work programs; diversity of land systems; limits on research areas Schultz; Tarlee; French; Noel Pederson; Brian Dubois; Dave Malinda; King; Minnipa; Struan
6:10 Reg French and Soil Conservation Branch; trust funds French; Jim ?; Pederson; ?
8:50 Relations in Department and head office Rovira
10:30 Fisheries merger; Departmental get togethers; Northfield activities Northfield
12.15 Visits by senior staff or Minister; work and professional associations; developments in the professional field Public Service Association; Institute of Agricultural Science
17:10 Changes to working life 
18:25 Modern technology but still the need for practical work; decreasing rural populations Wanbi Research Centre; Murray Mallee
20:10 Brief reflection on working life and family NSW; sons; England; United States of America; Wakefield electorate; Edinburgh, SA