This year marked 100 years on from when the Waite family first set its trailblazing commitment to support scientific research in SA and this legacy still remains.
Committed researchers have achieved scientific excellence throughout 100 years of the Waite Research Institute and University of Adelaide head of Agriculture, Food, and Wine Professor Jason Able believed it would continue.
"We have been able to hold true to the Waite family's request and looking back, it has been fairly easy to achieve with a dedicated team," Prof Able said.
The first discipline areas formed at Waite were plant breeding and soil science, and research has continued to go from strength to strength.
According to Prof Able, brilliant minds which work collectively to bolster research, also expand far beyond the doors of Waite.
Long term co-located partners such as CSIRO, SARDI and Australian Wine Research Institute have become an integral part of the university's ability to push new frontiers, boundaries and spur innovation.
"It is important we work with others to continue to innovate. It is a journey of collaboration without a doubt," he said.
"While we do excellent work in our own right, brainstorming big initiatives allows us to be so much better."
When looking back over 100 years of agricultural research and plant breeding in particular, many broadacre commodity varieties have been released and played a pivotal role in improving on-farm productivity.
These public breeding programs were so successful, eventually, the programs attracted private investment and created quite the success story.
"The programs were good enough to be invested in and that was a brilliant outcome. Future investment is also absolutely pivotal for the future success of these programs," Prof Able said.
"If we do not attract research investment from state and federal governments and GRDC, we cannot achieve what the Waite family set out to do all those years ago."
Prof Able believed it was paramount to maintain this investment to continue providing the agriculture sector new crop options and improved productivity.
This dedication to bettering production systems for farmers, is well supported by the sector.
"Proof is in the pudding. Farmers want to share and celebrate in the success of milestones such as the 100th year," Prof Able said.
In Prof Able's eyes, for Waite research to remain relevant and supported, researchers needed capacity to push study into alternative and niche crops.
He said the past had played an integral role in building new plant breeding programs, with successful predeceasing wheat, barley and durum programs setting the scene for progressive research.
"It allowed us to reinvest in new opportunities such as industrial hemp, soya beans and plantago for health benefits and hop breeding, which would close the loop when we think about barley and making a great bottle of beer," Prof Able said.
"Wouldn't it be great in 20 or 30 years time to look back and say those breeding programs meant we did not import hops from Europe anymore."
He believed stories such as this enabled Waite to push forward and innovate into the future.
"Research employment in SA is on a trajectory of growth which is bolstering certain research areas and will push new ideas for the next 100 years."
Vanessa Binks
I am the Markets Editor and journalist at the Stock Journal. I am based at Nuriootpa in SA's lower north.
I am the Markets Editor and journalist at the Stock Journal. I am based at Nuriootpa in SA's lower north.
