Upper Murray Seeds Research Centre recognised in 2021 Tasmanian Community Achievement Awards

The newly refurbished centre is the company's home for breeding, trialing and assessing crops for the Australian climate.

Their work has now been recognised on a national scale with Upper Murray Seeds being nominated for a 2021 Tasmanian Community Achievement Award in the Agricultural category.

The award, sponsored by Fonterra Australia, aims to applaud the unsung heroes and high achievers working in farming.

For research station manager Tim Smallbon, the recognition is a wonderful reward for the two-and-a-half years of work his team has put in.

The Cressy location was previously home to many varied agricultural pursuits since it was built in 1937, including a land army training centre, and another research station.

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Upper Murray Seeds invested more than $1.5 million to refurbish the station to its former glory, with the company relocating its operations from Tooma in NSW to Cressy.

"It's a wonderful reward for the two-and-a-half years of work that the team has done here. When we came here, we instantly started research plots and it took a lot of doing and a lot of tidying up. The place was quite run down, to make it look like a research station again," he said.

The relocation of the farm to Cressy was an important move for the team, with the Tasmanian climate perfect for their work. However, work was needed to restore the station in full.

"We did a major tidying up," Mr Smallbon said. "We put up extensive irrigation infrastructure, we had an open day last December and a lot of the ex staff members who worked at the station for years all turned up and had a look at what we have done and they were pleased to see we have restored it. It is a real honour and we are very pleased to be nominated for the award."

By working with the changes in the Australian climate the team create and breed new pasture varieties that are better suited to extreme conditions, such as drought and high salt levels.

"We produce very, very early generation seeds and we are breeding seeds here for our local and Australian market and also export. We are doing a lot of cutting edge stuff with plant breeding, looking at new varieties, refining varieties to suit our markets," Mr Smallbon said.

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"The Australian market is getting tougher in its climate as places are getting more arid or more cold with the temperature changes and our seed breeding needs to keep up with what the climate is and the conditions and what our customers demand from the seeds they purchase from us."

With the everchanging demand for products Upper Murray Seeds says agricultural practices must adapt, with their research proving vital for the innovation and modernising of grass products.

"With what we are doing the agricultural industry flows across, we are hoping to work with farmers for extension work or showing them what we are doing. We have worked with UTAS with some student visits here."

"Next month I'm doing a lecture with the Royal Society of Tasmania about the work that we have done here. We certainly are hoping to move into a teaching or educational role with young people, to inspire them to go into agriculture."

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The Cressy research team is a fully Tasmanian team with Mr Smallbon and the other members being from the local area, proving they are passionate about agriculture in Tasmania, and how they can market it on a national and global scale.

"COVID has been challenging because normally we would have international visitors and be able to go to international seed conferences which have been cancelled for the last two years," he said. "That doesn't slow us up though we can still bring in materials, although we can't get our usual visitors and the international input that we usually get from people on site."

The centre is already planning for expansion with the employment of a fourth full-time staff member. Breeding plots and the nursery also have room for expansion with the next step hoped to be a large hot house, which will have a heated floor.

The winners of the Tasmanian Community Achievement Awards will be announced at a gala presentation dinner on Friday, December 3.

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