AGRICULTURE lost one of its most innovative and progressive leaders this week with the death on Monday of Evan Moll.
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Mr Moll, 75, was a long serving registered seed grower, running trials at his family property Elderslie, Gerogery.
“His passing is going to be a loss to agriculture in NSW,” NSW Farmers president Derek Schoen said.
“He has been a stalwart of the association and very innovative in taking up new technologies and varieties. He has been a leader in the industry.”
The Moll family began in the seed growing industry in 1923 with the former Department of Agriculture (now Primary Industries) and in 1949 the family were also among the first members of the registered seed system.
They have hosted field days at the property for 70 years, with the latest just a fortnight ago.
The November 5 event – the first coordinated by Riverine Plains in conjunction with Holbrook Landcare – gave farmers and advisors a chance to review new canola and cereal varieties prior to commercial release.
Other topics discussed included new lucerne varieties, blackleg resistance in canola, sustainable grazing management and dual purpose crop varieties for grazing and cropping.
“We have been very saddened to hear the news,” Riverine Plains extension officer Cassandra Schefe said.
“The fact his family have been running field days for 70 years shows that the family are innovators and have been leaders for agriculture development for a long time.”
Mr Moll ran Elderslie with his sons Daniel and Stirling. They grow about 1250 hectares of cereal, pulses and clover and run 1200 ewes.
He was a strong and vocal campaigner for his community, and was a long-serving president of the Hume Country Tennis Association.
”I see some farmers whose ideas are quite fixed and that doesn’t seem like a good thing to me. I’ve always liked the excitement of trying new things and most things are worth a try,” Mr Moll was quoted this week.
A leader to the end.
His funeral will be at the Bethlehem Lutheran Church, Jindera, on Monday, November 23, at 10.30am.
