Mr Ralph Schulze AM has been fielding congratulatory phone calls and messages from the district, the region, Australia and overseas following the announcement of his Australia Day Order of Australia Medal (AM.)
The messages reflect the spread of people across the spectrum of agriculture and the community with whom Ralph has been involved during his long career.
He said today he had been surprised, and humbled, by the award.
“It is a mixture of surprise and feeling humble, and at the same time feeling quite proud” Ralph acknowledged.
“It makes me reflect that it was a great time to be associated with the cotton industry, through all of that time of nurturing and growth. It was great to be part of that.
“The cotton industry today is a significant and sustainable industry.
“There was some faltering at the start in the 1970s with pesticide resistance, and over use of pesticides and all the environmental problems which can go with that.
“There was a period when the industry wasn’t really addressing sustainability and to me that was one of the key drivers to getting a research focus to do what had to be done to achieve sustainability.
“I think the Australian industry has been very successful because it has been able to blend the quick adoption of research with the good early know- how that goes right back to pioneers Paul Kahl and Frank Hadley and other Americans, and the Australian farmers’ ability to innovate.
“You mix that all together and you come up with a pretty successful industry.”
There were many people involved in the journey to success for the Australian cotton industry, Ralph said.
“It was great to be a part of the team.
“But to me, the late Richard Williams and the late Dr Norm Thomson are my two stand out people.
“Richard Williams was for many years chair of CSD. He and I worked together on the formation of the Australian Cotton Growers’ Research Association (ACGRA) and the initiation of the first Australian cotton conferences.
“And the plant breeding team is a great testament to the early work and leadership of Dr Norm Thomson and of course it is tremendously competent in its own right.” The cotton industry has applauded the recognition of Ralph Schulze in the Australia Day honours.
Australia’s cotton industry would be less innovative and less efficient – arguably, a shadow of its current size - without the contribution of Ralph Schulze, an industry spokesperson said.
“There are many scientists and researchers, CEOs and other industry leaders who have contributed greatly to Australia’s cotton sector.
“However, what stands Ralph Schulze apart from them all is his commitment to drive research and innovation forward at a frenetic pace.
“While individual research programs can lay claim to advancement in a narrow field or two, Ralph Schulze was enormously influential in marshalling research and innovation programs to the benefit of the entire industry.
“Even after retirement at the end of a long career in the cotton industry, Ralph Schulze continued to play a role as leader to the sector, maintaining ties and contributing advice to cotton companies and organisations.
“Further, Ralph Schulze was as committed to the wider community as he was to cotton, and this is reflected in his many memberships of community groups.
“Ralph Schulze has excelled in his dedication and contribution to the advancement of the Australian cotton industry, initially through the very earliest research at Narrabri, NSW in the 1960s through practical farm agronomy and farm management and in later life through his guidance of scientific cotton research and development as the first Executive Director of the Australian Cotton Research and Development Corporation (CRDC).
“The CRDC tenure spanned a 15 year period.
“During this period the research and development work that Ralph oversaw led to the growth and development of today’s $2.5 billion industry.
Ralph Schulze began work at the Narrabri Experiment Farm, Myall Vale in 1960 after transferring from Trangie Research Station.
The Farm was operated by the NSW Department of Agriculture and focused on the breeding of cotton cultivars suitable for the newly emerging Australian industry.
In 1962-63 Ralph was sent to California, USA by the NSW Department of Agriculture on exchange with the University of California to study cotton as a potential new Australian Industry.
His research trip was significant, as few Australians had any knowledge of cotton production, and also because he was the first Australian agronomist to study cotton overseas (other than the renowned plant breeder Nick Derera).
Ralph’s study was split between Bakersfield Agricultural Service and the Cotton Research Institute at Shafter, California.
Part of the study also included a three unit postgraduate course in Applied Psychology and Sociology at Bakersfield College California, USA, which Ralph passed with first class honours.
On his return he resumed cotton agronomy work at Myall Vale, including some plant breeding work until 1965. In this role he was provided information crucial to the establishment of the industry.
In 1965 Ralph joined Auscott Limited, a wholly owned subsidiary of the American J.G Boswell Co.
He worked as an agronomist for Auscott’s new Narrabri farm.
An initiative that had later major impact on the cotton industry was Ralph’s action in 1965 as a founding member, with Richard Williams, in the establishment of the Cotton Planting Seed Association.
Its charter was for the continuous supply of pure planting seed for the industry.
The year 1967 saw Ralph act as a founding member of the grower-owned and controlled Cotton Seed Distributors (CSD), an organisation with the same, but modernised, approach as the Cotton Planting Seed Association.
Ralph’s Board membership of CSD spanned 33 years.
In this time CSD played a critical role in the development of the industry, its success as a leading biotechnology organisation continues to this day.
Ralph was also actively involved in the formation of the Australian Cotton Growers’ Research Association (ACGRA), an organisation dedicated to promoting, funding and encouraging research and its uptake.
ACGRA merged with Cotton Australia Limited in 2008. Ralph served on this organisation for close on 30 years, including time as Vice Chairman.
In 1968 Ralph became Auscott’s assistant manager and in 1970 was appointed manager of Auscott’s farm “Burratippi” and its associated cotton gin at Trangie, NSW.
He remained in this position for 10 years.
In 1981, after “Burratippi” was sold, Ralph was transferred to Auscott Narrabri operation, where he took up corporate duties associated with the company’s agronomic activities.
From 1981-89 Ralph left Auscott and formed a consulting business with his wife, Merilyn, to provide consulting services to the cotton industry. He operated this for about eight years.
In 1991 Ralph became the first Executive Director of the newly formed Australian Commonwealth authority Cotton Research and Development Corporation (CRDC.)Ralph’s contribution to cotton was not restricted to the Australian industry.
He was appointed as a member of the Australian delegation to the world commodity body for cotton – the International Cotton Advisory Committee (ICAC) - in 1993 and served in this role until 2004.
He was selected by ICAC to join the Commercial Standardisation of Instrument Testing on Cotton (CSITC) task force.
CSITC meets twice-yearly and its goal is to develop a uniform method of testing cotton and to encourage its worldwide adoption, thus helping to reduce the vagaries of international trade.
Ralph was a leader of this committee, which was established in 2000, and has only recently resigned.
He also initiated and chaired the inaugural World Cotton Conference in Brisbane in 1994. He continued to serve on the international conference committee until 2006. These international research conferences are a critical pathway for the sharing of existing research and the development of new research ideas.
Ralph was part of a team that drove the establishment of the Co-operative Research Centre for Sustainable Cotton (Cotton CRC) in 1994 at the Australian Cotton Research Institute.
The Cotton CRC had two successful re-bids, continued for 19 years, and was shown to have driven positive outcomes for the industry in excess of $1 billion.
Ralph served for a short term on the Hawkesbury Agricultural College Advisory Board to the State Minister. He was also a member of the Advisory Committee to the State Minister on Agricultural chemicals.
His contribution to the cotton industry was recognised often in the mainstream media, such as The Land and The Courier newspapers.
Ralph was granted the Service to Industry Award by the Australian Cotton Growers Research Association in 1993 at the Biennial Cotton Conference.
In 2001 he was awarded The Centenary Medal, an award bestowed on many individuals recognised as having made outstanding contributions to Australian society in the 100 years following Federation.
A special “This is Your Life” was held on his retirement at the Biennial Cotton Conference in 2004.
Ralph’s association with the Australian cotton industry spanned a total of 44 years, from 1960 until his retirement in 2004.
Ralph Schulze has long been a champion of regional Australia through his involvement with the National Party. He joined the National Party of NSW in the early 1960s and was later made a life member.
He was elected as Chairman of the Dubbo State Electoral Council in the early 1970s. He served a four-year period as Vice-Chairman of the National Party of NSW.
In 2012 the National Party of NSW held a dinner at Parliament House in Sydney to honour Ralph’s 40 years continuous service on the Executive of the State Party; he was the longest-serving party member on the Executive, which is voted for by the Party Council.
Ralph’s community memberships - past and present - include Mosman Rowers Club, Narrabri Rugby Union Club, Apex, the Narrabri Rotary Club, the Narromine/Trangie Pony Club (including service as its Treasurer), Special Olympics – Narrabri branch, ADFAS Narrabri (Australian Decorative and Fine Arts Association), Narrabri Swimming Club, and the Narrabri Community Tenancy Scheme and Special Purpose Housing.