Alan Kirton
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Alan Henry Kirton (22 February 1933 – 25 July 2001) was a New Zealand
agricultural scientist An agriculturist, agriculturalist, agrologist, or agronomist (abbreviated as agr.) is a professional in the science, practice, and management of agriculture and agribusiness. It is a regulated profession in Canada, India, the Philippines, the Uni ...
.


Biography

Born in
Stratford, New Zealand Stratford () is the only town in Stratford District, New Zealand, Stratford District, and the seat of the Taranaki region, in New Zealand's North Island. It lies beneath the eastern slopes of Mount Taranaki, approximately halfway between New P ...
, in 1933, Kirton was raised in a farming family who ran sheep and dairy cows on a block of land in a small settlement called Kohuratahi, approximately 90 km north-east of Stratford. He received his primary education at Marco School and went on to Stratford Technical High School for his secondary schooling where he was taught by Mr H C Johnson, a teacher who influenced many promising agriculturalists including C P McMeekan. Kirton attended
Victoria University of Wellington Victoria University of Wellington (), also known by its shorter names "VUW" or "Vic", is a public university, public research university in Wellington, New Zealand. It was established in 1897 by Act of New Zealand Parliament, Parliament, and w ...
for his agricultural intermediate before transferring to
Massey University Massey University () is a Public university, public research university in New Zealand that provides internal and distance education. The university has campuses in Auckland, Palmerston North, and Wellington. Data from Universities New Zealand ...
where he completed a BAgrSc (1956) and an MAgSc (1958). For his MAgSc he received First Class Honours in
Sheep Sheep (: sheep) or domestic sheep (''Ovis aries'') are a domesticated, ruminant mammal typically kept as livestock. Although the term ''sheep'' can apply to other species in the genus '' Ovis'', in everyday usage it almost always refers to d ...
and
Dairy A dairy is a place where milk is stored and where butter, cheese, and other dairy products are made, or a place where those products are sold. It may be a room, a building, or a larger establishment. In the United States, the word may also des ...
Husbandry Animal husbandry is the branch of agriculture concerned with animals that are raised for meat, fibre, milk, or other products. It includes day-to-day care, management, production, nutrition, selective breeding, and the raising of livestock. ...
. While studying at Massey he received a number of prizes including the Lord Bledisloe Prize, the George Terry Memorial Scholarship, the Senior Scholarship in Agriculture (declined), a
New Zealand Wool Board The New Zealand Wool Board was established in 1944 under the Wool Industry Act.Julian Roche, p180, ''The International Wool Trade'', Woodhead Publishing, Cambridge, England, 1995 McKinsey & Company McKinsey & Company (informally McKinsey o ...
Scholarship and a
Shell Oil Company Shell USA, Inc. (formerly Shell Oil Company, Inc.) is the United States–based wholly owned subsidiary of Shell plc, a UK-based transnational corporation " oil major" which is among the largest oil companies in the world. Approximately 18,000 ...
Scholarship. He then spent some time on the Massey staff working for the
Sheep husbandry Sheep farming or sheep husbandry is the raising and breeding of domestic sheep. It is a branch of animal husbandry. Sheep are raised principally for their meat ( lamb and mutton), milk (sheep's milk), and fiber (wool). They also yield sheepskin ...
Department. He received a MacMillan Brown Agriculture Research Scholarship and a
Fulbright The Fulbright Program, including the Fulbright–Hays Program, is one of several United States cultural exchange programs with the goal of improving intercultural relations, cultural diplomacy, and intercultural competence between the people ...
Travel Grant which enabled him to enroll for PhD studies at
Michigan State University Michigan State University (Michigan State or MSU) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in East Lansing, Michigan, United States. It was founded in 1855 as the Agricultural College of the State o ...
. He studied under Professor A M Pearson and completed a doctorate in
Food Science Food science (or bromatology) is the basic science and applied science of food; its scope starts at overlap with agricultural science and nutritional science and leads through the scientific aspects of food safety and food processing, informing ...
in 1962. Before leaving the USA Kirton was elected to membership of
Sigma Xi Sigma Xi, The Scientific Research Honor Society () is an international non-profit honor society for scientists and engineers. Sigma Xi was founded at Cornell University by a faculty member and graduate students in 1886 and is one of the oldest ...
, the PhD honorary fraternity. Upon his return from the United States in 1963 Kirton was employed by the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries in the Meat Group at the
Ruakura Ruakura is a semi-rural suburb of Hamilton City, in the Waikato region of New Zealand. The University of Waikato is nearby. The area lies to the east of urban Hamilton and to the west of State Highway 1B (a variant of State Highway 1 which av ...
Animal Research Station. In 1966 he was promoted to lead the Meat Group and remained in this position for over 30 years until he retired in 1999. Kirton drove the need for a research abattoir and then oversaw the planning and construction of Ruakura Research Abattoir. The abattoir remains to this day a major facility for undertaking production and processing research directly aligned to the New Zealand meat industry. Kirton took an interest in
animal welfare Animal welfare is the quality of life and overall well-being of animals. Formal standards of animal welfare vary between contexts, but are debated mostly by animal welfare groups, legislators, and academics. Animal welfare science uses measures ...
and chaired the Ruakura Animal Ethics Committee for 10 years from 1988–1997. He was at first met with opposition from parts of the industry but, as a result of his hard work, those attitudes soon faded.


Achievements

Kirton was recognised worldwide as an authority on the growth, development and meat quality of farm animals. His expertise was particularly focused on sheep and then
goats The goat or domestic goat (''Capra hircus'') is a species of goat-antelope that is mostly kept as livestock. It was domesticated from the wild goat (''C. aegagrus'') of Southwest Asia and Eastern Europe. The goat is a member of the famil ...
. He also had secondary interests in
cattle Cattle (''Bos taurus'') are large, domesticated, bovid ungulates widely kept as livestock. They are prominent modern members of the subfamily Bovinae and the most widespread species of the genus '' Bos''. Mature female cattle are calle ...
and
rabbits Rabbits are small mammals in the family Leporidae (which also includes the hares), which is in the order Lagomorpha (which also includes pikas). They are familiar throughout the world as a small herbivore, a prey animal, a domesticated form ...
. Kirton's research was mainly focused on the chemical and dissected composition of carcasses, and the role of
genotype The genotype of an organism is its complete set of genetic material. Genotype can also be used to refer to the alleles or variants an individual carries in a particular gene or genetic location. The number of alleles an individual can have in a ...
or environment in altering these compositions. This included studying the effectiveness of analysing carcass composition through the use of measures such as
potassium Potassium is a chemical element; it has Symbol (chemistry), symbol K (from Neo-Latin ) and atomic number19. It is a silvery white metal that is soft enough to easily cut with a knife. Potassium metal reacts rapidly with atmospheric oxygen to ...
-40,
ultrasound Ultrasound is sound with frequency, frequencies greater than 20 Hertz, kilohertz. This frequency is the approximate upper audible hearing range, limit of human hearing in healthy young adults. The physical principles of acoustic waves apply ...
and various carcass probes. Kirton helped develop more quantitative and scientific methods to help the industry in identifying meat quality to assist the selection of superior breeding sires. Kirton dispelled a number of myths that prevailed in the industry, showing that— * Meat from old ram lambs does not have a flavour odour problem * The shape of a sheep carcass has little effect on meat yield or quality * White
veal Veal is the meat of Calf (animal), calves, in contrast to the beef from older cattle. Veal can be produced from a calf of either sex and any List of cattle breeds, breed; however, most veal comes from young male calves of Dairy cattle, dairy b ...
production does not require the absence of light or iron * Goats are an excellent source of lean red meat. Kirton's leadership was influential in the number of farmers choosing to no longer
castrate Castration is any action, surgical, chemical, or otherwise, by which a male loses use of the testicles: the male gonad. Surgical castration is bilateral orchiectomy (excision of both testicles), while chemical castration uses pharmaceutical d ...
their rams or even remove the tails, so improving meat yield without compromising meat quality, and improving animal welfare. Kirton produced over 290 publications for the Meat Science scientific literature, 212 of which he was senior author, and contributed 9 chapters to a number of books at the forefront of the industry. He was a committee member, secretary-treasurer, vice-president, and an honorary life member of the New Zealand Society of Animal Production (1975), a committee member, vice-president, president (1969–70, 1970–71) and (1991–92, 1992–93) of the New Zealand Association of Scientists, and a committee member and a president (1980–81) of the
Waikato The Waikato () is a region of the upper North Island of New Zealand. It covers the Waikato District, Waipā District, Matamata-Piako District, South Waikato District and Hamilton City, as well as Hauraki, Coromandel Peninsula, the nort ...
Section of the New Zealand Institute of Agricultural Science and a council member and president (1987–88) of the national body.


Honours and awards

Kirton was the recipient of a number of awards and honours for his work: * Fulbright Travel Grant – 1959 * Research Medal of New Zealand Association of Scientists – 1972 * Fellow of New Zealand Institute of Agricultural Science – 1975 * DSc from Massey University for his work in the field of animal growth – 1984 *
Marsden Medal The Marsden Medal is a yearly award given by the New Zealand Association of Scientists. It is named after Sir Ernest Marsden and honours "a lifetime of outstanding service to the cause or profession of science, in recognition of service rendere ...
of the New Zealand Association of Scientists – 1991 * Fellow of the
Royal Society of New Zealand Royal may refer to: People * Royal (name), a list of people with either the surname or given name * A member of a royal family or royalty Places United States * Royal, Arkansas, an unincorporated community * Royal, Illinois, a village * Royal ...
– 1991 *
Member of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...
, for services to agricultural science, in the 1994 Queen's Birthday Honours *
Hutton Medal The Hutton Medal is awarded annually by the Royal Society Te Apārangi to a researcher who, working within New Zealand, has significantly advanced understanding through work of outstanding scientific or technological merit. Frederick Wollaston Hu ...
by the
Royal Society of New Zealand Royal may refer to: People * Royal (name), a list of people with either the surname or given name * A member of a royal family or royalty Places United States * Royal, Arkansas, an unincorporated community * Royal, Illinois, a village * Royal ...
for Science and Technological Merit in Animal Sciences – 1998 * Doug Campbell Award by the New Zealand Institute of Agricultural Science for Services to the Institute – 1999.


References


External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kirton, Alan 1933 births 2001 deaths People educated at Stratford High School, New Zealand Massey University alumni Fellows of the Royal Society of New Zealand New Zealand scientists People from Stratford, New Zealand New Zealand Members of the Order of the British Empire