EMERITUS Professor Alan Robson AO and the late Eric Farleigh, formerly of Boyup Brook, have become the 62nd and 63rd inductees into the Royal Agricultural Society of Western Australia (RASWA) Hall of Fame.
The honour was bestowed at a special luncheon at the RASWA offices on Tuesday, sponsored by Wesfarmers and attended by the Governor of Western Australia, Her Excellency the Honourable Kerry Sanderson AC, in what will be one of her last official agricultural-related functions before she exits the role at the end of April.
Professor Robson is recognised internationally and nationally for his work on nutrition in plants and soil fertility and although born in Victoria, came to WA to complete his PhD.
“My father died when I was 12 and I was very lucky to be given a scholarship by Victorian Wheatgrowers to study agricultural science at Melbourne University,” he said.
“Actually graingrowers across Australia have been central to my career and I owe them much because it was federal graingrowers that sponsored my post graduate studies at University of WA (UWA) and WA graingrowers who funded my research.
“I came to WA two days after I married my wife telling her it was going to be the longest honeymoon ever and we are still here!”
Prof Robson’s research included developing plant diagnostics tests for nutrient disorders, both deficiencies and toxicities in cereals and grain and pasture legumes.
A highlight was determining which part of the plant mattered in the testing, especially with regard to understanding copper deficiency.
In 1992 he became the first director of the Co-operative Research Centre for Legumes in Mediterranean Agriculture (CLIMA) and later chair of the federal Grain Legumes Research Council.
Throughout, he spent much of his time meeting with farmers something he enjoyed and appreciated because it was a great way to get direct and immediate feedback.
Education was his other passion and he later embarked on a career in agricultural education lecturing at UWA.
This led to roles as Dean of Agriculture at UWA in 1992, deputy Vice Chancellor from 1993 to 2004 and Vice Chancellor from 2004 to 2012, following in the footsteps of Dr Ken Michael and Michael Chaney.
“Einstien had a saying ‘I see further when I stand on the shoulders of giants’,” Professor Robson said.
“Well I learnt so much from men like this and many other colleagues and collaborators during my career for which I am eternally grateful.”
Asked to name a highlight moment from his extensive career he said, from a research point of view it was perfecting the plant analysis test, but in general, it was the students he taught and the PhD thesis projects he oversaw.
“Actually I am still working with one PhD student who is looking at ammonium toxicity in canola,” he said.
Born in 1898, Eric Farleigh took up a virgin block at Boyup Brook in1924 and through drive and passion turned it into the showcase property, Rylington Park.
He was an innovator and a visionary and most importantly loved to share his discoveries and knowledge with others, especially fellow farmers.
Key areas of interest to him were the use of lime to improve acid soils and the sowing of subterranean clover pastures to increase the fertility of the soil and improve stocking rates.
He was a large-scale producer of subterranean clover seed and devised innovative techniques for harvesting it.
Subterranean clover became a major component in the large-scale development of the WA Wheatbelt, especially after World War II and Fairleigh seed undoubtedly played a hand in that.
Like Alan Robson, Mr Farleigh was keen on education and in 1985 handed Rylington Park to the Shire of Boyup Brook to be developed as an agricultural college.
This did not eventuate, but the property became a centre for training and research, being well known for its shearing schools, workshops in many aspects of agriculture, ASBV Merino sire evaluation trials and its flock of genetically worm-resistant sheep.
Given her father was a soil scientist, Dr Sanderson found great interest in the work of the two inductees.
“I applaud RASWA for initiating this award which recognises vision, skill and the impact these people have had on WA agriculture, an industry that is important to us all,” she said.
“I was lucky enough to be able to induct Alan Robson into the Science Hall of Fame in 2014 and I acknowledge his impact on the State’s lucrative grain industry and the many students he has mentored over the years.
“And I have great admiration for the pioneer farmers of the industry like Eric Farleigh who took up virgin land and turned it into something special, but more importantly freely shared his successes and his knowledge.”
In welcoming guests to the awards luncheon RASWA president Paul Carter acknowledged the recent passing of former RASWA president and long-time councillor Lou Giglia, who instigated the Hall of Fame award in 1999 and was himself inducted for services to the dairy industry in 2012.
“It’s one of, if not the, most prestigious events on our calendar,” Mr Carter said.
“Since that time, not including the two men we are recognising today, we have had 63 members inducted.
“Of these 36 were born in WA, six in the Eastern States and 19 overseas.
“Thirteen are still living, three were members of Parliament at some stage during their careers and four are past winners of our Governor’s Cup award, including Lou Giglia who won it in 1991 and also won the Queen’s Cup in the year Queen Elizabeth visited.”