Northfield Research Centre
The Department of Agriculture’s Northfield Laboratories and Research Centre was a hive of research and development activity for 3 decades from its opening in 1964.
The then Director of Agriculture, Sir Allan Callighan, sought land suitable to establish a general research facility at a central location. After unsuccessfully looking to establish the centre at Bedford Park (now Flinders University), land was acquired at Northfield which was formerly owned and managed by the Hospitals Department, totalling area 240 hectares.
Facilities developed as part of the Major Research Laboratories included research units for pigs, horticulture, dairy, weeds, agronomy and soil conservation. At its peak, there were around 160 staff working out of the Northfield site, servicing statewide industry programs.
In the 1970s, there were plans to locate the Department of Agriculture Headquarters from central Adelaide to Northfield. This was put on hold when, at the same time, the whole of the Department was to move to the new city of Monarto, just outside of Murray Bridge.
The Monarto development was stopped around 1977. A decade later, the Northfield site was turned over to housing and the operations were relocated:
- research moved to the Waite precinct at Urrbrae and Roseworthy Agricultural College, along with the Animal Science capability from the University of Adelaide
- the dairy research facility was reestablished at Flaxley in the Adelaide Hills.
Find out more about the rise and fall of the Northfield Laboratories and Research Centre below.
Further contributions to the history of the Northfield Laboratories and Research Centre are invited.
Development of Northfield
21-year celebrations
A symposium was held around the time of the announcement of the closure of Northfield.
While the proceedings were recorded in Department’s publication (Agricultural Record 1986, Volume 13, No 18), the following material summarises the successes of programs conducted by Northfield staff:
- Northfield 21st birthday celebrations – A summary ( )
- Development of the Northfield Laboratories and Research Centre ( ) (John Radcliffe)
- Achievements and future development in soil and nutritional research ( ) (R.J. French)
- Achievements in agronomic and horticultural research ( ) (R. J. Van Velsen)
- Achievements in livestock research ( ) (Feagan et al)