Kadina

Kadina District Office (incorporating Balaklava)

The Kadina Office provides services to the Yorke Peninsula primary producers and agribusiness. It services the area from north of Kadina to the tip of Yorke Peninsula.

The development of agriculture in this region is well described in the paper "Some Historical Notes on Yorke Peninsula - With Special Reference to the Kadina District Early Days" (PDF 1.1 MB). This account was written around the 1960s by Mr Frank B Pearson a prominent Agricultural Advisor and later, Chief Agronomist with the Department of Agriculture.

At the start of the colony the majority of Yorke Peninsula was considered to be of poor agricultural capability due to the sandy soils and lack of water. By around the 1850s most of the land was pastoral properties used for sheep grazing. Wheat production commenced around 1870 after land was cleared of the mallee scrub and rapidly expanded throughout the Peninsula over the following 30 years.

The result of soils and climate, the Yorke Peninsula is now considered to be a most productive area in terms of crop production. The evolution from primarily a pastoral area to primarily cropping saw the region lead the development of new tillage and harvesting equipment, the ley farming system, integrating livestock and crop production, the introduction of pulses and later oilseeds into the rotation and then the adoption of continuous cropping systems and reduced or no till cultivation/crop establishment methods.

Today, Yorke Peninsula is a major grain growing region in SA focusing on wheat, barley (much of malting quality), and pulse crops. The scope of Department of Agriculture services mirrors the changing nature of agricultural production on the Peninsula.

The Yorke Peninsula is also the region where the early developments in agricultural machinery took place, particularly the Ridley "stripper" and the "stump jump plough".

Department of Agriculture services to the Lower North and Yorke Peninsular producers and agribusiness were initially delivered out of an office at Balaklava.

The people working out of the Balaklava Office at the time of the transfer were:

• Cec Gross, who moved from Turretfield around 1948/49
• Geoff Robinson who took up the position of District Agricultural Advisor from Jamestown and served between 1955 and 1961/62
• Don Winn 1962 to 1965.

In 1966 Mr Glyn Webber was appointed as the District Agricultural Advisor and moved the office to Kadina, reflecting the importance of the Yorke Peninsula. Services to the Lower North were provided out of the Kadina and the Nuriootpa Offices. The Kadina Office was located in a Bank building complex in Graves St, Kadina.

These key appointments were made to the Office during the late 60s including:

• Mr Harry Nash as Livestock Advisor (around 1967/68)
• Mr Noel Matz as Agronomist around 1969
• Mr Ian Pickett as Poultry Advisor around 1969
• Paul Heap as Animal Health Advisor around 1969
• Mr Graham Trengove as Economist around 1969.

The Around the regional areas – Kadina page includes information from the Journal of Agriculture 75(2) 1971, including staff and services being provided out of the Kadina Office.

The Office was relocated from the Bank building to its location of today at Frances Terrace Kadina in 1978. At this time the staff operating out of the Centre were:

• Mr Trevor Dillon as District Agronomist
• Mr John Both as Publicity Officer
• Mr George Rankine as Animal Health Advisor
• Mr Simon Wright as Pig Advisor
• Mr Ross Britton as Crop Protection Officer
• Mr Bill Giles as Livestock Advisor
• Mrs Jane Gill as Receptionist.

Structural changes

From the commencement of the Kadina Office until 1979 those responsible for the delivery of specialist services reported to people in the industry divisions for leadership and coordination, mostly located in Adelaide. There was a loose interaction between the specialist areas depending on the interests of people in the office.

In 1979 Central Region was established with a Chief Regional Officer, and Regional Officers for Extension, Research and Regulation. These Regional Officers worked through the appointed Senior District Officer in delivering an integrated and coordinated services to producers and industry. Around the same time, the Director of Agriculture, Jim McColl, introduced the concept of whole farm management and strongly encouraged district staff to deliver services based on this whole farm management philosophy.

Around the late 1980s the reporting arrangements for the animal health regulatory staff was removed from district management and centralised with the Animal Health Branch.

In 1992, following an Organisation Development Review, the research staff in the agency were progressively transferred to SARDI, the regional management structure was disbanded and Rural Solutions SA (RSSA) established. Most of the staff in district offices (except research and regulatory staff) were transferred into RSSA.

Program area and achievements

Agronomy

Since the mid 1900s, each of the main district offices was headed up by a District Agricultural Advisor, usually the person providing the agronomic services, particularly where crops such as wheat, barley, pulses and oilseeds were the dominant forms of agricultural production.

The District Agricultural Adviser, provides advice on all aspects of crop and pasture production. The area covered Yorke Peninsula and north and eastwards to Celements Gap, Redhill, Brinkworth, Bowillia, Balaklava and Port Wakefield. Initially the Agricultural Advisor covered pests, diseases and weeds in crops, however as these became increasingly important, severely limiting crop production, a specialists Crop Protection Agronomist was appointed.

The following were the 4-5 major advances in the agronomic area:

• Rotations. The wheat fallow rotation was failing the cropping industry by the mid-1800s with falling yields, erosion, weed incursions and reduced returns. With industry the ley farming system was initially developed which saw the introduction of annual medics and subterranean clover in rotation with wheat and barley. This resulted in increased soil nitrogen, a level of disease control, increased yield of cereals and feed for livestock, particularly sheep.
• Control of root and foliar diseases were a major limiting factor from the start of cropping in the late 1800s onwards. Rusts, smut and the root disease "take-all" were major limitations to grain production. Root and some foliar diseases increased in severity with the introduction of pastures into the rotations and even further as continuous cropping systems were adopted along with reduced, or no till. Research programs within crop pathology groups at the Department of Agriculture, CSIRO and the University of Adelaide provided solutions in terms of resistant varieties, targeted rotational systems, use of agricultural chemicals and significantly improved diagnostic tools.
• Introduction of canola and pulses into the rotation occurred progressively from the early 1900s. Peas were trialed in the district in the 1920s and grew to become a major rotational crop from around the 1950s. Beans, chickpeas, lentils and canola were trialed extensively. With adapted varieties, management of pests and diseases but recognising market uncertainty, these crops were adopted to varying degrees in the latter parts of the 1900s onwards.
• Continuous cropping and the Introduction of new tillage practices, initially the replacement of the long fallow and then systems of minimum and no till practices in association with selective herbicides. Continuous cropping was widely adopted on Yorke Peninsula from the 1980s onwards. This required very different machinery capable of sowing crops into the trash of previous crops and much stronger and targeted weed and disease control management systems including watching out for herbicide resistance. As a result of the intensification of cropping system the importance of livestock, particularly sheep, declined, as did the need for service provision from the Department.

District Agronomists who have provided services out of the Kadina Office include Glyn Webber, Noel Matz, Trevor Dillon, Chris McDonough and Dave Lewis.

Crop protection

With the intensification of cropping, foliar and root diseases of crops and pastures became increasing problems. Initially take-all was by far the most serious with the carryover of the disease in grass dominated pastures. By the 1970s and 1980s CCN and rhizoctonia had progressed as of equal importance over much of Yorke Peninsula.

Ross Britton was appointed to the position of Crop Protection Officer around 1970 and was followed by David Creeper in the mid-1980s.

As the management systems to deal with these foliar and roots diseases improved, the role of the crop protection officers evolved to include support for the weed control boards and latterly the integrated pest animal and weed arrangements.

Animal health

The responsibility for providing the district's livestock owners with readily available advice on animal health matters rested with the Animal Health Adviser. In past years, this service was provided by officers based in Adelaide, but the increase in the size and number of livestock enterprises in the district made a local appointment necessary. In the 1970s and 1980s the pig population increased in size and more interest was being shown in poultry production.

The Animal Health Advisor deals mainly with notifiable stock diseases, but is also available to advise on other diseases affecting herds or flocks. The overall aim is to control and prevent the spread of disease among the livestock population.

Programs

• Control of tuberculosis in pigs, poultry and cattle. Maintaining quarantine on properties that have supplied infected stock to abattoirs, and acts when the source of outbreaks is detected.

The appointments to the position of Animal Health Advisor included Paul Heap, Jack Jones and George Rankine.

Livestock - sheep and wool

In the early years of the colony and the Yorke Peninsula, the main agricultural industry was grazing of sheep. The good rainfall and soil conditions were conducive to wool and meat production. Cropping was progressively introduced in the second half of the 1800s and when annual legumes were introduced into rotations sheep in the early 1900s, production increased.

The major programs run by the Department of Agriculture were:

• overcoming low lambing percentages and
• increasing the over­all quality of flocks by sheep.

Harry Nash and Bill Giles were among the Livestock Advisors who have provided services out of the Kadina Office.

Poultry

The 1960s was a period when many farmers’ principal crop and sheep production enterprises were augmented by egg and pork production.  Some of this was for domestic consumption however it was also a further source of revenue for farm families.

As a key grain producing region there was a surplus of grain in most seasons, particularly the late 1960s and 1970s when restrictions (“quotas”) on wheat production were in place to combat grain surpluses. It was also a period of expansion in caged hens for egg production.

Key projects at this time were:

• Assessment of the suitability of peas for increasing the protein content of poultry rations at minimum cost.
• Use of evaporative cooling units to reduce heat stress among birds
• Farm record systems for poultry producers

Ian Pickett commenced at Kadina in 1969, however was not replaced when he moved from Kadina.

Pigs

As with poultry, there was a growing pig population in this area. The Kadina office serviced the Yorke Peninsula, mid-north and Eyre Peninsula pig producers.  In 1971 it was reported there were more than 5,000 pig producers in these regions.  At the time most of these piggeries are small sideline units of less than 20 sows, but there has been a continuing trend towards fewer but more intensive piggeries. Today there are several large piggeries in the area.

Andrew Oliver was appointed to the position of Pig Advisor in the early 1970s, followed by Simon Wright and then Graeme Pope.

Economics

Following the successful trial undertaken out of Jamestown Office in the early 1950s, of incorporating farm management economics into the services provided out of major district offices, appointments were progressively made to other offices around SA.

The function was to assist farmers with enterprise budgeting, to prepare estimates of gross costs and income, and to offer guidance whenever necessary. The role was also to advise on the economics of existing or intended enterprises, and to assist owners in determining the feasibility of increasing farm size through land purchase and use of funds acquired under the rural re-construction plan.

In 1969 Grahame Trengove was appointed to the newly established position of Economist at Kadina. Grahame was replaced by Roger Edwards in 1986.

Agricultural machinery and equipment

The adoption of continuous cropping and reduced tillage systems was restricted by the capability of existing agricultural machinery to operate under the new conditions.

Machinery options became much greater, as did the cost of purchasing the more specialised and large equipment.

In the mid-1980s the Department of Agriculture initiated a major research program, with Dr Rohan Rainbow as leader and a specialist Agricultural Machinery Extension position established at Kadina, Chris Norris.

From these programs information was provided to cereal producers on issues such as stubble management, operation of opening devices, sowing points and press wheels and new approaches to the application of fertilizers.

Pasture research

As part of a major monitoring systems program funded by the Grains Research and Development Corporation, Ms Jo Crosby was the project supervisor for the legumes component. This work was undertaken out of the Kadina Office in the late 1980s.

Key farming systems were identified and properties selected where the selected farming systems had been in operation for many years. The status of medic pastures along with a wide range of soil and plant parameters were measured over the 3 years of the project.

Natural Resource Management

The increasing emphasis on Natural Resource Management (NRM) in the latter 2-3 decades of the 1900s reflected concern around soil erosion, expansion of dryland salinity, decline in vegetation and associated biodiversity and the impact of drought condition on the resource base.

Major funding, from the Commonwealth and State Governments, saw resources allocated to addressing the dryland salinity issue on Yorke Peninsular, encouragement to landowners to re-vegetate parts of their properties and support to the soil conservation boards, that evolved into NRM Boards and now Landscape Boards.

At the same time there was an emphasis placed on property planning and technical support was provided to undertake soil surveys and land capability planning as the basis for development and implementation of property plans.

Industry structure and collaboration

The Yorke Peninsular established strong industry structures, particularly via the formation of Bureau branches across the region. The Bureaux in the area collaborated in the establishment of the Northern Yorke’s Peninsula Agricultural Bureau Field Trial and Show Society, in 1894. The objective of the Society was to demonstrate the latest farm harvesters, tillage implements and hay making equipment, along with a wide range of crop and livestock innovations and industry development opportunities.

Under the leadership of the Bureaux Yorke Peninsula became widely recognized for its innovations in agricultural equipment. This included the stump jump plough, the Ridley stripper and a wide range of modifications to equipment to improve efficiency as well as responding to changing farming systems. From the early days farmers and manufacturers were encouraged to supply machines for evaluation at the field days.  This particularly related to harvesting equipment.

In 1898 the Government provided a grant which allowed the purchase of 119 acres of land at Paskeville in 1899.

An enduring association with the Department of Agriculture commenced with the formation of the Department of Agriculture in 1905.

The collaborative arrangements have continued to the present time. In 1977 the name of the field trial component changed to YP Field Days Inc.  The YP Field Days attract some of the largest attendance by producers and agri-business in the state.

Prepared by Don Plowman with contributions from Glyn Webber, November 2021.