Two boys less than a year old, another one on the way and no family support for a career move to the other side of the world.
DairyNZ principal scientist David Chapman might watch grass grow for a living, but he’s never let it grow under his feet. And, luckily, he and wife Jennie like a good challenge.
They certainly got that when the young Kiwi scientist earned what he regards as a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to study pasture physiology at the prestigious Grasslands Research Institute at Hurley, in Southern England.
It wasn’t their first significant shift and it wouldn’t be their last as David’s career grew, along with valuable research and insights into the pasture that fuels this country’s dairy industry.
Those insights began on the family farm in Mid-Canterbury, a little north of the Rangitata River.
«It was a classic dryland mix farm, so sheep and cropping, mainly wheat and barley. So I’ve always been interested in agriculture,» he says.
David was even more interested in science, particularly biology, which he explored further as part of his Bachelor of Agricultural Science degree at Lincoln University in Christchurch.
«There was one subject that I really found revelatory and that was biochemistry . . . for me it helped explain why things happen in life, the physiology of plants and animals.»
He was keen to know more, even started a PhD at Lincoln, before realising he was keener to get his hands dirty by working with the soil he had spent so long studying.
«I got about three months into the PhD and thought, ‘Crap, I don’t think I’m ready to do a PhD at this stage after all’, so I went out to get a job and some experience.»
A little societal experience as well – the boy from the quiet family farm in Mid-Canterbury went to the sprawling, hard-knocks Auckland suburb of Otara. That was the site of the New Zealand Fertiliser Manufacturers Research Association unit.
«It was just totally different – an 8 or 9-hectare site plonked right in the middle of Otara,» says David. «There was no real formal interaction between the research station and the largely Maori and Pacific Islands community, so it was like a little island in the suburb.»
That lasted about a year. David was keen to learn more about soil science so he took on a role in Palmerston North, with the Grasslands Division of the Department of Scientific and Industrial Research (DSIR).
As he researched hill-country pasture ecology, an idea sprouted and began to grow about what he might like to study as part of a PhD. It came from an unusual place – complete ignorance.
«I had been doing a lot of work on just the basic survival processes of white clover,» he says. «Then I was having a chat with Professor Bram Watkins at Massey University who said, ‘Well, what do you know about the physiology of white clover?’ and I had to confess that I didn’t know anything . . . and there was no information in the literature on the processes I was interested in.»
David would travel to the other side of the world to fill that vast gulf of knowledge. He used a DSIR study award to secure a spot at Hurley, Berkshire, which was one of the globe’s most prestigious pasture research institutes.
«In the space of a few years I’d gone from Otara in Auckland to probably one of the richest parts of England.»
Not alone, of course. Joining David in England was seven-months pregnant wife Jennie and their two twin boys, who were less than a year old. «The third child was born about two months after we got there, so we had three children aged under two to deal with, which was entertaining and challenging at times.»
Rewarding as well.
«I learnt a hell of a lot about the physiology of clover and of plants in general. And also learnt an enormous amount from people at Hurley, which was a bit of a world benchmark for how you can put together a research institute involving people with complementary skills from plant science to animal science, to modelling and farm systems.»
The family moved back to New Zealand three years later and David returned to the DSIR in Palmerston North, using his new-found knowledge in work with plant breeders to improve the persistence and growth of white clover.
Grass was growing, as was David’s career as he took on new leadership roles. But so was disruption and unrest. The early 90s saw substantial reforms in the funding and management of science in New Zealand.
«That was totally new and highly disruptive, in the sense that every year you had to write these massive bids and it was a bit of a lottery. I got through 3-4 years of that and then thought I needed a bit of a change.»
Cue the next significant shift – a move to Melbourne to take on the role of the foundation professor in pasture science at the city’s university. That would last 14 years, during which the family became completely immersed in the Aussie lifestyle, to the point of taking out citizenship.
«We got into Aussie Rules,» says David. «I supported the Essendon Bombers but a good friend in Melbourne supported Collingwood.
«He saw these three young boys arriving in Melbourne and he saw an opportunity to get three Collingwood supporters – everyone hates Collingwood – so he was bringing around jerseys and beanies.»
When David and Jennie returned to New Zealand in 2010 – two of the sons remained in Australia and the third now lives in England – he took on his current job at DairyNZ.
As part of that role David and a team of scientists and researchers are studying pasture persistence. Their important work is part of the Transforming the Dairy Value Chain Primary Growth Partnership programme, a seven-year, $170 million innovation programme led by commercial partners, including DairyNZ and Fonterra, and partnered by MPI.
The programme aims to enable the creation of new dairy products, increase on-farm productivity, reduce environmental impacts, and improve agricultural education.
«The major area of work is trying to get to grips with this pasture persistence phenomenon, what’s going on, what’s driving that,» says David.
There were issues with ryegrass persistence around the country, particularly in the upper North Island where new pasture was often «failing badly» after three or four years.
«Drought alone doesn’t usually kill ryegrass, so we started looking at what was the combination of factors, like drought, insect pest damage, some management things going on.»
Many had thought that newer ryegrass varieties were less resilient than older versions.
«One of the things that we’ve been able to square away very quickly is that this isn’t the case. There’s no evidence to say the new ryegrass cultivars are inherently any poorer in their ability to survive compared with the old pastures.»
Genetic research by David and his team shows that old and new cultivars are genetically quite stable.
«Part of this is that you come to the realisation that in some situations, particularly in the upper North Island, ryegrass may just be a three-year plant, not a five or 10-year plant, so then you start thinking, ‘Well how does the economics stack up?'»
Improving those economics for farmers, finding more resilient, productive and cost-effective alternatives, is David’s next focus. And he’s not waiting for the grass to grow under his feet as he searches for a solution.
Source: Stuff
Link: http://www.stuff.co.nz/business/farming/85157512/the-scientist-whose-job-is-to-watch-grass-grow