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The Shire of West Arthur covers an area of 2,850 sq kms. It has a stable climate, with medium rainfall. The landscape is undulating, contrasting strongly between the golden colours of summer and the verdant green of winter.
To fully appreciate the lifestyle and landscape of the Shire today, one must appreciate its farming heritage. (Interestingly, the family names of the early pioneers still feature strongly in the local telephone directory.) Many farming innovations have been developed in the Shire, and farming is constantly evolving to meet the challenges of the environment and world markets.
The agricultural potential of the area was first recognised in 1830 by Captain Bannister on his expedition to find an overland link between the colonies of the Swan (Perth) and King George’s Sound (Albany). His glowing reports prompted Governor Stirling to send a second expedition in 1835, during which the Arthur River was named (after Arthur Trimmer, also on the expedition and, reportedly, the first person to import merino sheep into Western Australia), along with many other rivers and landmarks in the Great Southern Lands.
Today, some 150 years since the first pioneering families settled alongside the newly built Perth – Albany Road in the 1850s and later, in the 1860s around Moodiarrup and Darkan, the landscape has changed significantly as land was cleared and farming lands established.
The local economy is built on agriculture and, to give an idea of scale, in the 1996/97 period, there were–
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1,186,3000 sheep/lambs shorn, to produce some
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4,400 tonnes of wool (mainly high quality merino wool);
- 8,200 beef cattle,
- 3,500 pigs
- 500 goats
The approximate total values of production for the 1996/97 period was:
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crop production $11,654,400
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meat & meat products $10,476,400
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wool $18,733,100
Enterprising farmer, Donald Cochrane, has started the Shire's first Winery - Wandoo Farm. Click here to visit.
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If you have any suggestions or would like to make a contribution, please contact the West Arthur Telecentre - click here for our contact details, or click here to email us. | |
