Roseworthy Agricultural College

Australia's first agricultural college was founded in 1883 at Roseworthy, 50km north of Adelaide.

From its establishment, Roseworthy Agricultural College was a teaching facility for the agricultural sector and close partnerships with industry and government research groups were a feature of it's development.

Roseworthy’s Diploma of Agriculture (RDA) was at first based on two years of study. This became three years in 1893, taking it beyond being merely a course for training farmers. In 1901, the University of Adelaide recognised its courses in Agriculture, Viticulture and Oenology as academically acceptable for the degree of Bachelor of Science in Agriculture.

In 1905, the College formally affiliated with the University of Adelaide. This allowed students who attended courses at the College to gain exemption from related lectures at the University.

Pursuant to the requirements of the Agricultural Education Act 1927, the University of Adelaide had established a four year degree course in Agricultural Science, based on the teaching resources of the university at North Terrace, the Waite Institute and of Roseworthy College. The first two graduates received their degrees in 1932. One of them, R.I. Herriot later became a senior officer of the Department of Agriculture as the first Soil Conservator and then Chief of the Division of Extension Services and Deputy Director of Agriculture.  Bob Herriot later became Principal of Roseworthy Agricultural College (1962-1973).

In 1983, the College's centenary publication explained: "The College encompasses approximately 1,200 hectares of land, most of which is used as a teaching and demonstration farm. There are about 500 hectares sown to wheat, barley, oats, oilseed and medic crops, with 10 hectares of orchard, vineyard and vegetable garden. The farm also carries sheep, Poll Shorthorn beef cattle, Jersey and Friesian dairy cattle, pigs, poultry, and representative range of both light and heavy horses, and some Angora goats ... Roseworthy also has a teaching winery (which includes a distillery) of 150 tonnes production capacity ... The College produces a range of table wines, sherries and brandies."

Roseworthy College remained a separate department of the South Australian government until 1973, when it became a College of Advanced Education under the Education Department, and officially co-educational. It had exclusively male students until 1972, and was primarily a residential college.

In 1991, the College merged with the University of Adelaide and became the University's Roseworthy Campus, part of the Faculty of Agricultural and Natural Resource Sciences. The merger would see teaching and research in oenology and viticulture transferred to the University's Waite Campus, along with the bulk of its work in plant breeding. The proposal was controversial at the time, and the Student Union Council (RACSUC) held a wake at that time to emphasise the perceived future of the college/campus under the University of Adelaide.

From the mid 1990s, the major focus of the campus turned to dryland agriculture, natural resource management and animal production. The campus is also now home to South Australia's first pre-service Veterinary Science training program, which commenced in purpose built facilities in 2010. In 2013, the focus on veterinary science was expanded with the opening of the Equine Health and Performance Centre, a state-of-the-art facility for equine surgery, sports medicine, internal medicine and reproduction.

Adapted from Wikipedia - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roseworthy_College - Accessed 10 November 2020 and History of Agriculture in SA - Department of Primary Industries and Regions - https://www.pir.sa.gov.au/aghistory/dept_of_agriculture_as_an_organisation/structures/skilling - Accessed 7 January 2021