Wongan Hills Research Station

Established in 1925, the research station covers about 2500 hectares (ha) of land, of which about 1600 ha is arable (1200 ha is currently leased).

Our Grains Field Research Operations team facilitates the delivery of our world class research by the timely and accurate implementation of research experiment programs at the research station and across the region, for the department and on contract to industry. 

The facility hosts a wide array of research on the research station and throughout the region, including:  

• soil fertility and amelioration 
• broadacre crop protection (weeds, pests, and diseases) 
• plant breeding and agronomy 
• croplands nitrous oxide emissions.

Facilities 

• 400 ha of paddocks for an average of 25 field experiments per year (research and demonstration). These include: 
  • irrigation capability (for use in heat stress trials) 
  • trial pedigree seed production capability (for seed bulk-up) 
  • small-scale seed cleaning, threshing facilities 
  • large machinery sheds and 2 cool stores 
  • two staff houses 
  • precision plot seeders and plot harvesters and crop sprayers 
  • fertiliser applicators. 
• The field research office building onsite is designed to receive, store, and process plant material and grain samples collected from research trials for distribution across all grain growing regions in Western Australia. It includes: 
  • delivery bay with forklift access for offloading commercial vehicles and trucks 
  • storage areas with space-saving pallet racking and storage system 
  • controlled environment storage areas to maintain the quality of plant and grain samples 
  • air-conditioned grain processing area with mobile work benches 
• Soil archive storage facility.