George Lowe Sutton (23 October 1872 – 11 January 1964) was an Australian agricultural scientist and breeder of wheat. In 2005 he was elected to the

Royal Agricultural Society of Western Australia The Royal Agricultural Society of Western Australia (RASWA) was established 1831 in Western Australia. Early history It held its first annual agricultural show, the Fair and Cattle Show, at Guildford, Western Australia, Guildford on 7 November ...

Hall of Fame. Sutton was born in

Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated ''Lancs'') is a ceremonial county in North West England. It is bordered by Cumbria to the north, North Yorkshire and West Yorkshire to the east, Greater Manchester and Merseyside to the south, and the Irish Sea to ...

, England. In 1882 his widowed mother took him to

New South Wales New South Wales (commonly abbreviated as NSW) is a States and territories of Australia, state on the Eastern states of Australia, east coast of :Australia. It borders Queensland to the north, Victoria (state), Victoria to the south, and South ...

, where he studied at

Sydney Boys High School Sydney Boys High School ('SBHS'), otherwise known as Sydney High School ('SHS') or simply High, is an Australian government-funded single-sex academically selective secondary day school for boys, located at Moore Park, New South Wales, a s ...

. After dairy-farming and working in

Queensland Queensland ( , commonly abbreviated as Qld) is a States and territories of Australia, state in northeastern Australia, and is the second-largest and third-most populous state in Australia. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Austr ...

, he was appointed experimentalist at

Hawkesbury Agricultural College Hawkesbury Agricultural College was the first agricultural college in New South Wales, Australia, based in Richmond. It operated from 1891 to 1989. History It was established on 10 March 1891, and formally opened by Minister for Mines and Agric ...

, later becoming a lecturer. There he became a friend of

William Farrer William James Farrer (3 April 184516 April 1906) was a leading English Australian agronomist and plant breeder. Farrer is best remembered as the originator of the "Federation" strain of wheat, distributed in 1903. His work resulted in significa ...

. Sutton opened an experimental farm at

Cowra, New South Wales Cowra () is a town in the Central West region of New South Wales, Australia. It is the largest population centre and the council seat for the Cowra Shire, with a population of 8,254. Cowra is located approximately above sea level, on the b ...

doing wheat-breeding work for the Department of Agriculture. After Farrer died in 1906, Sutton was head of wheat-breeding in New South Wales. In 1911, Sutton was appointed agricultural commissioner for the

Western Australia Western Australia (WA) is the westernmost state of Australia. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to the south, the Northern Territory to the north-east, and South Australia to the south-east. Western Aust ...

n Wheatbelt. Drought affected wheat yields in the years after Sutton's appointment, and he cross-bred varieties to produce the

wheat leaf rust Wheat leaf rust (''Puccinia triticina'') is a fungal disease that affects wheat, barley, rye stems, leaves and grains. In temperate zones it is destructive on winter wheat because the pathogen overwinters. Infections can lead up to 20% yield ...

-resistant variety ''Nabawa''. From 1 July 1921 to 31 October 1937, Sutton was Director of Agriculture in Western Australia — the first to hold this role.Sutton, George Lowe (1872 - 1964)
at Bright Sparcs Sutton produced a new standard for wheat, 'W.A. Standard White', which went further than the previous 'Fair Average Quality' standard which had been in use in Australia. In 1937, Sutton was awarded the Farrer Memorial Medal. He died in

Mount Lawley Mount is often used as part of the name of specific mountains, e.g. Mount Everest. Mount or Mounts may also refer to: Places * Mount, Cornwall, a village in Warleggan parish, England * Mount, Perranzabuloe, a hamlet in Perranzabuloe parish, Co ...

on 11 January 1964, and was buried in

Karrakatta Cemetery Karrakatta Cemetery is a metropolitan cemetery in the suburb of Karrakatta in Perth, Western Australia. Karrakatta Cemetery first opened for burials in 1899, the first being that of wheelwright Robert Creighton. Managed by the Metropolitan Ce ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sutton, George Lowe 1872 births 1964 deaths Australian agronomists Farrer Medal recipients Burials at Karrakatta Cemetery English emigrants to colonial Australia People educated at Sydney Boys High School