New Pasture Varieties for Wool, Meat and Milk Production

Plant breeders in the CSIRO, universities and state-based primary industry departments produce many of Australia’s pasture varieties. This is often in isolation from seed companies and related industry sectors. A shift was needed from isolated research-driven activity to integrated market-lead research.

Actions Taken

Greg Bender worked closely with plant breeders, seed industry representatives and farmers to ensure buy-in from concept through to fruition.

• Undertook national market analysis of stakeholder needs.
• Staged national and regional workshops to test the market analysis with stakeholders and to identify investment priorities.
• Established a new national coordinating body to oversee investment in pasture breeding in Australia.

Results

Pasture breeding efforts are more closely integrated into wool, meat, and milk production industries. Farmers are benefiting from better coordination of pasture breeding and delivery of new pasture varieties that suit their needs.