Journal of the Department of Agriculture, Journal of the Department of Agriculture, Western Australia, Series 4 Western Australia, Series 4
Volume 10
Number 8 1969 Article 6
1-1-1969
Deputy Director of Agriculture retires Deputy Director of Agriculture retires
Department of Agriculture, Western Australia
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Department of Agriculture, Western Australia (1969) "Deputy Director of Agriculture retires," Journal of the Department of Agriculture, Western Australia, Series 4: Vol. 10: No. 8, Article 6.
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DEPUTY DIRECTOR OF AGRICULTURE
RETIRES
T h e D e p u t y - D i r e c t o r of A g r i c u l t u r e , M r . F. L.
Shier, has retired after 4 7 years in the Department of A g r i c u l t u r e .
M r . Shier joined the Department as a cadet in 1 9 2 2 and after graduating f r o m the University of W . A . was posted to Geraldton in 1 9 2 6 . A t this t i m e he was one of only two officers stationed in country districts.
In 1 9 3 4 he was transferred to Perth as export iamb adviser and in 1941 was appointed Assistant Superintendent of W h e a t f a r m i n g . From then on he was closely concerned w i t h all major develop- ments in the Department of A g r i c u l t u r e ' s work in the cereal and sheep areas. He took part in re- search projects on whose results are based many of the accepted f a r m i n g techniques in the cereal and sheep areas.
He was co-author w i t h Dr. T . C. Dunne, now Director of A g r i c u l t u r e , of an article in the
" J o u r n a l o f A g r i c u l t u r e " in 1 9 3 4 entitled " A M o d i f i e d Rotation for the W h e a t B e l t " , which set the p a t t e r n f o r the ley f a r m i n g system now followed in most cereal growing districts.
Later he worked w i t h Dr. Dunne and others on light land research, particularly at the W o n g a n H i l l s Research Station and in other central agricultural districts. In 1 9 4 9 he was involved in the establishment of the Esperance Research Station, and he took a leading part in t h e l i g h t land research there w h i c h led to the successful development of t h e Esperance district and other l i g h t land areas in the south of this State.
From 1 9 3 4 u n t i l the m i d . 1940s M r . Shier was involved in sheep n u t r i t i o n and husbandry research which proved vital to the State's sheep industries. He was one of the team w h i c h carried out early studies on botulism ( " t o x i c paralysis"), t h e n a serious cause of sheep losses in the agricultural areas. Then followed important w o r k o n sheep n u t r i t i o n a n d f e r t i l i t y and p r i m e lamb production which established the n u t r i t i o n a l needs of sheep in the agricultural areas and demonstrated the value of improved pastures and grain supplement in sheep n u t r i t i o n .
Projects in w h i c h he was associated included the research on pregnancy toxaemia and clover i n f e r t i l i t y in sheep.
In 1 9 5 3 , the year he was appointed Chief of the W h e a t and Sheep Division, he studied agricultural extension in New Zealand and the ideas he formed at this t i m e influenced the development of the Department's advisory services d u r i n g his period as Chief of the W h e a t and Sheep Division and later as Deputy Director of A g r i c u l t u r e .
In 1 9 5 5 - 5 6 he was given leave by the Department to act as adviser to the Governments of Syria and nearby Arab countries for the Food and A g r i c u l t u r e Organisation of the U n i t e d Nations.
He was appointed Deputy Director of A g r i c u l t u r e in 1 9 6 1 . Since then he has played a major role in the development and day-to-day r u n n i n g of the Department of A g r i c u l t u r e d u r i n g its period of most rapid expansion.
One of his main aims as Deputy Director was to increase the number of university trained advisers in the f i e l d and to develop an effective network of well-staffed, well-equipped district centres. T h i s has been largely achieved.
T o help improve the supply of trained advisers he strongly supported the Department's cadetship scheme. There are now some 70 agricultural and veterinary cadets in t r a i n i n g .
A feature of his career was the good relationship he maintained w i t h farmers. T h e i r assistance t h r o u g h the provision of land, stock and machinery for research projects was an important factor in the success of many experiments, particularly in the days when few facilities were available w i t h i n the Department. Throughout his career he helped t o foster the spirit o f co-operation which exists between the Department and the State's primary
producers.
M r . Shier represented the Department on numerous agricultural committees, including the State M e a t Advisory C o m m i t t e e , State W h e a t Research C o m m i t t e e , the W h e a t Research C o u n c i l , t h e A n i m a l Health and Production Advisory Committee, the Central South Zone
Development C o m m i t t e e , the Commonwealth W h e a t Research C o m m i t t e e , and the Soil Conservation Advisory C o m m i t t e e . He is a past President o f the W . A . Branch of the Australian Institute of A g r i c u l t u r a l Science.
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Journal of Agriculture, Vol 10 No 8, 1969
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