Conference Paper

For a time after the colony of South Australia was founded (this was at the end of 1836) very little progress was made towards establishing a useful local grain-growing industry. As a result much damage was done to the infant colonial economy; flour had to be imported (and paid for) in considerable quantities to feed a substantial population, while the colony's earnings from its own exports remained at a low level. A number of factors were responsible - among them the absence of mills of any kind to process whatever grain might be produced by the farmers of the region. Eventually, however, local inertia was overcome. Wheat at last began to be grown in increasing quantities, and a milling industry was established with a certain amount of difficulty. An export trade was initiated, first in grain alone, and later in both whole grain and flour. Both wheat production and the milling industry in South Australia expanded rapidly over the years of the mid to late 19th century, and both changed quite significantly in character. This paper examines the unusual circumstances of the two industries in their early years, their dependence upon each other over time, and their evidently similar rates of progress. Attention is also directed to the manner in which the circumstances and practices of both industries changed as they developed.