Chemistry loss agriculture’s gain

Graeme Robertson.

A chance conversation at university in the 1960s put Graeme Robertson on a career path that would ultimately change the face of the agriculture industry in WA.

Without knowing the impact he would have on thousands of WA farmers in a career spanning more than 40 years, Dr Robertson turned his back on a life as a chemist in favour of agricultural science.

"I had fairly good marks in science, but I hated the indoors. I was standing at the back of a queue at university with a mate, Kevin Goss, and we were both leaning towards chemistry," he said.

"Someone handed us a brochure about doing science outdoors, so I enrolled in agriculture straight away, having never really been on a farm."

After graduating, Dr Robertson was sent to Merredin as a wheat and sheep adviser before being awarded a coveted Rhodes scholarship.

"I went to Oxford in 1971 for my doctorate in plant physiology for three years," he said.

"But when I returned to the department I decided I didn't want a career in plant science, so my first job back in WA was working with Bill Bowden and David Bennett on the economics of how farmers determined the appropriate amount of phosphate to put on their soils, the costs and benefits and the roll-out of Decide, a computerised program optimising the application of superphosphate."

This model was the first of its kind in Australia, which Dr Robertson said became central to fertiliser planning for many WA farmers through the 70s and 80s.

"We ran a series of workshops across the State because in those days we thought farmers were putting far too much phosphate on. But it didn't bother farmers too much because phosphate was very cheap and so the workshops were only modestly attended," he said.

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Chemistry loss agriculture's gain