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It was perfect timing for many of 40 Year 9 students from Applecross Senior High School - some who had never been on a farm before - who visited The University of Western Australia's Future Farm 2050 recently.

The lambing season was underway, and the academic extension students were delighted to see baby lambs and their interactions with their mothers.  They also enjoyed planting trees from seeds they had grown and cultivated in the school nursery over the previous eight months.

One of their teachers, Jeff Mengler, said the plants were native salt resistant trees and shrubs that would help to reduce salinity on the clean, green and ethical Pingelly farm.

"They will also help to increase the native fauna and biodiversity values for the area by linking green corridors between isolated habitats," he said.  "The tree-planting at the Future Farm was the climax of our school's sustainability project."

Another on-farm activity involved examining soil samples in the shearing shed which was equipped with binocular microscopes. "A healthy soil has a wide variety of tiny soil animals and the students were fascinated to observe them and identify some types using the microscopes," Mr Mengler said.

UWA Future Farm 2050 is a large - scale laboratory for advanced research into farming systems by scientists from WA's leading university which was recently ranked 26 ^th in the world for life and agricultural sciences, according to the world's foremost performance indicator, the Academic Ranking of World Universities.

Students from schools in Brookton, Beverley Narrogin and Pingelly - and members of the public - are expected to visit the Future Farm during its annual Field Day from noon to 4pm this Friday, September 6.

The annual showcase of rural science research at UWA's 1500-hectare property aims to encourage more young people to consider UWA pathways to studying agricultural science as a future career for the benefit of local farming communities and to help keep Australia at the forefront of developing new cutting - edge knowledge and technologies for domestic and international agriculture.

"We are using innovative science to find new ways to farm sustainably while meeting the challenge of producing enough food to feed a world population that will grow by 50 per cent to nine billion people by the year 2050," said Winthrop Professor Graeme Martin, Deputy Director of UWA's Institute of Agriculture (IoA) and Deputy Leader of IoA's Animal Production Systems Program.

"Our aim is to use advanced science to help farmers develop production in financially profitable ways that are ethical and healthy, and produce enough food worldwide for current and future generations."

Media references

Winthrop Professor Graeme Martin (Deputy Director, UWA Institute of Agriculture)  (+61 4) 08 951 052
Christine Shervington (UWA Future Farm 2050 Project Manager)  (+61 4) 08 096 662
Michael Sinclair-Jones (UWA Public Affairs)  (+61 8)  6488 3229  /  (+61 4) 00 700 783