Kings were first commercial growers of serradella legume pasture

Their first successful sowing and establishment occurred in 1975 (see publication The History of Serradella in NSW) and adoption across the east of the country progressed from there.

Serradella was the first major breakthrough for successfully developing large areas of eastern Australia with acidic soils which had been widely regarded as near useless. They were not suited to cereals like wheat or pastures like sub clover or lucerne. Because of often subsoil acidity lime was not successful at improving many of them.

More importantly, Joyce and Stan King for decades hosted an annual field day, commonly attended by dignitaries such as Ministers for Agriculture (including Ian Armstrong) and Director Generals of NSW DPI (George Knowles) as well as farmers with attendances sometimes over 300.

The King's example showed the feasibility of adding this 'breakthrough" pasture plant to pastures.

Farmers came from many areas to see how once regarded "useless" country could be improved.

Joyce and Stan King were an example of the "quiet Australian" seeking no glory for themselves but contributing enormously to their fellow man.

Unbeknown to field day attendees they annually donated a steer for the barbecue lunch.

For over 20 years Joyce and Stan King, in partnership with NSW DPI (then known as Department of Agriculture), during the 1970s to 1990s, hosted many pasture and crop experiments, as-well-as the annual field day. A sizable part of their farm was acidic sandy, typical of much of eastern Australia.

It was this soil type where experiments showed the promise of serradella.

However it was Stan and Joyce King, together with son Ian, who sowed the first successful 10 hectare area of serradella in what they called "useless" country.

It succeeded from day one and showed thousands of landholders, as well as agronomists and administrators, that this country could be feasibly developed and become profitable.

In 2020 Stan and Joyce King were recognised by NSW DPI by naming an outstanding new serradella variety after them.

King was the standout variety in a series of DPI trials conducted over central west NSW for five years. It remains popular today.

In many other ways the Kings' were innovative proving it was feasible to progress from humble means (for example Stan a shearer, Joyce a shearers cook, both sharefarmers) to successful landholders.

In their area they were among the first to show the feasibility of using fertiliser on pastures, a practice not appreciated by the average farmer for decades later.

They were among pioneer growers of lupins and triticale, both species trialed by DPI on their property, and found suited to acid soils.

In 2002 shortly after his death, Stan King was awarded an OAM, and Joyce King received it on his behalf. It acknowledged that, like many farm businesses, Joyce was more than worthy to receive the award on her husband's behalf as they were a real partnership and the research and field days conducted on their property were as much her contributions as that of Stan's.

Joyce and Stan King were also early adopters of tropical grasses as part of their grazing system. They were one of the very few early successful users of Consol lovegrass, and then Premier digit grass.

These have become an integral part of grazing systems on millions of hectares and are proving long term persistent as well as long term productive, provided well managed.

My involvement with Joyce and Stan King was not only professional but it seemed to me I was part of their family. Joyce was always the perfect host, extremely generous, and a power behind the scenes.

Their efforts and example was appreciated by many farmers and they played a major part in showing how to integrate light soils with medium and heavy ones into a profitable and sustainable business. They pioneered showing how once useless country actually added to a farm's success.

Next week: Tips for 2020 tropical grass pasture sowing.