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In the past 10 years 38 agricultural science graduates have successfully completed fourth year honours research projects with The University of Western Australia (UWA) based Western Australian Herbicide Resistance Initiative (WAHRI).

To celebrate the achievement, a reunion of former honours students was held at UWA’s Institute of Agriculture last week.

In 1997 the Grains Research and Development Corporation (GRDC) decided a new research team was needed to respond to herbicide resistance problems emerging in WA cropping systems and WAHRI was the result.
Funded by GRDC, Australian Research Council (ARC) and UWA, it is located in the School of Plant Biology, Faculty of Natural & Agricultural Sciences, at UWA’s Crawley campus.

WAHRI founding Director, Winthrop Professor Stephen Powles, is an international authority on all aspects of herbicide resistance, from basic biochemical understanding of how plants evolve resistance, through to practical on-farm management.

A passionate advocate of using crop and chemical rotations to delay the onset of herbicide resistance, he is well known for his catch-phrase of “When on a good thing, don’t stick to it”.

One of the world’s most highly cited plant scientists, Professor Powles was this year awarded the GRDC ‘Seed of Light’ award, recognising his contribution to agriculture and science.

“As inaugural and current Director, I’m honoured and proud to be here celebrating 10 years of WAHRI achievements, especially with our fine output of talented honours graduates and I acknowledge that it couldn’t have been done without the outstanding commitment and contribution of former and current students and staff,” he said.

WAHRI’s successful fourth year research/honours students have since gone on to work nationally and internationally in diverse fields, such as agronomy, consulting and farming in various private and government roles, including with DAFWA, CSIRO, Elders, and Landmark.

Some, like Jason Ellerton who completed his fourth year research project on mechanical seed destruction at harvest as an effective method for controlling weeds, have pursued further studies.

Having completed a Masters in Environmental Engineering at Melbourne University, he is now completing a PhD at Monash University on a plant-based system to filter storm water for re-use.

According to Mr Ellerton, his fourth year research project at WAHRI was a fabulous experience.

“The challenge of doing my project was matched by the guidance and mentorship of Stephen Powles, who gave me the confidence to successfully complete it. I collaborated with outstanding people on the project and made some good friends from the experience,” he said.

Charlie Boyle, another fourth year honours student, who completed his research project on multiple resistance in ryegrass populations of WA, now works on his family farm at York and admits to giving his project supervisors a run for their money during his final year.

“As one of the first fourth year projects, I broke Mike Walsh and Stephen in as supervisors and for that reason fourth year was a blast,” he joked.

A number of fourth year students now farm, including Emma Wilson and Kent Stone of Quairading, Tim Cusack of Narembeen and Tracy Lefroy of Walebing.

Other fourth year students include James Eyres of ConsultAg, Northam, who completed his project on resistance evolution creep in ryegrass populations following recurrent field selection with glyphosate and Wade Longmuir of ConsultAG, Wagin, whose project was on using a competitive barley variety to suppress weed growth .

Former WAHRI agronomist and dedicated fourth year student supervisor, Dr Michael Walsh, who returns to WAHRI in June after a stint with the Birchip Cropping Group in Victoria, addressed the reunion on what he learned as a fourth year project supervisor.

“The most important lesson, from my experience as a supervisor of fourth year agricultural science students, was that agriculture in WA is in good hands,” Dr Walsh said.

WAHRI has also produced several successful PhD Scholars, including Dr Marta Monjardino, Future Farm Industries CRC, Adelaide; Dr Martin Vila-Aiub, University of Buenos Aires, Argentina; Dr Rick Llewellyn, CSIRO Sustainable Ecosystems; Dr Chris Loo, Kings Park Botanic Gardens; Dr Pippa Michael, Muresk, Curtin University; Dr David Ferris, DAFWA, Northam; Dr Catherine Borger, DAFWA, Merredin; Dr David Minkey, WANTFA Executive Director and Dr Shane Friesen, now  a grain grower in Canada.

Presenting the opening address at the WAHRI alumni function, Winthrop Professor Kadambot Siddique, Director of UWA’s Institute of Agriculture, said WAHRI had a proud record of achievement with its honours and PhD students, especially in the area of applied science.

“UWA, its Institute of Agriculture and WAHRI are about doing and then translating high quality research into the appropriate community, in this case the broadacre farmers of WA,” he said.

Media references

Authorised by ‘Institute of Agriculture – UWA’ and issued on its behalf by
Brendon Cant & Associates (+61) 8 9384 1122
Winthrop Professor Stephen Powles (+61) 0418 927 181
Winthrop Professor Kadambot Siddique (+61) 0411 155 396