Crosbie Graham

Graham Crosbie is a Pioneer of the Western Australian noodle wheat industry. His skills as a chemist defined the ideal wheat for high quality noodles which underpinned the development of distinctive varieties of udon noodle wheat in this State. Western Australia is the major world supplier of specialised wheats for the Japanese and South Korean noodle wheat markets and Graham Crosbie is recognised as the driving force behind it.

He worked closely with the Japanese flour milling industry to understand the exacting characteristics of udon noodles. Then, as a first-class cereal chemist, he defined these characteristics and developed techniques to measure them to support the Western Australian wheat breeding effort. As a member of several high-level advisory groups, he convinced the industry to segregate these new wheats to allow them to be marketed successfully and to create separate pooling, so the proceeds from sale of the noodle wheat went directly to the growers who produced it.

His vision and skills in defining essential traits for breeders to develop new, specialised udon wheat varieties and his proficiency in working closely with both the Japanese flour milling industry and Australian wheat industry to create a unique and highly profitable wheat class identify him an agricultural pioneer in this State.