Doctoral Thesis
Stories from the Paddock: Understanding the people and their motivations behind the direct drill farming revolution in Western Australia
Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), Murdoch University
2025
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.60867/00000071
Abstract
Bucking the trend of thousands of years of agricultural tradition, Australian grain growers began to remove cultivation, or ploughing, from their seeding systems in the early 1960s. Throughout history, cultivation was undertaken to create a clean seed bed before planting the seed. Often, many cultivations would take place over numerous weeks throughout the late autumn and early winter period to rid the soil of germinating weeds and create a clean seed bed, delaying planting well beyond the ideal seeding period. This thesis records the revolutionary period in Western Australia (1960–1980) when farmers used newly commercialised bipyridyl chemicals to manage weeds with a single spray pass over their paddocks, followed by planting the crop without the need for cultivation. Often referred to as direct drill or minimum tillage, this farming strategy was trialled by a small number of growers for many reasons, not just as a way to combat weeds, but also as a solution to an overinvestment in heavy machinery, to reduce time spent on machines, reduce fuel and labour costs, protect soil structure and mitigate against wind and water erosion. Growers who trialled this strategy in the mid-1960s did so with limited agronomic advice or support from their Department of Agriculture, without any real understanding of the ramifications to their crop production outcomes, without suitable machinery, and often at the expense of their local reputation as a respected farmer and community member. Ultimately, the direct drill revolution would morph into the no-tillage revolution in the 1990s, but the very early grower innovation, risk taking and farmer-to-farmer conversations that occurred decades earlier would be relegated to the memories of the small collection of farmers who were brave enough to step outside their cultural comfort zones and consider this alternative farming method. This thesis, using memories from over 30 recorded oral histories plus archived manuscripts, newspaper and journal articles, letters, photos and conference presentations, aims to set the record straight through a creative narrative, titled “Stories from the Paddock”, which recounts the early days of the revolution. This use of storytelling, incorporating methodologies that cross numerous academic disciplines, provides a model for other industries, as recognition increases of the value of the addition of human reactions, memories and emotions into the recording of historical events that traditionally may have been documented using scientific findings alone.
Details
- Title
- Stories from the Paddock: Understanding the people and their motivations behind the direct drill farming revolution in Western Australia
- Authors/Creators
- Jo Fulwood
- Contributors
- Kathryn Trees (Supervisor) - Murdoch University, School of Humanities, Arts and Social SciencesCatherine Archer (Supervisor)Richard Bell (Supervisor) - Murdoch University, Centre for Sustainable Farming Systems
- Awarding Institution
- Murdoch University; Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)
- Identifiers
- 991005861092807891
- Murdoch Affiliation
- School of Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences
- Resource Type
- Doctoral Thesis
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