The Boorowa public have been given an open invitation to help celebrate the official opening of the CSIRO's new Boorowa Agricultural Research Station (BARS) this Saturday.
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BARS is a purpose-built 290 hectare facility that will help develop the farms of the future by testing emerging technologies in crop science, agronomy and farming systems.
BARS Farm Manager, Stuart Brown, said he was excited for the site to get underway.
"The old research station at Ginninderra has gone past its due by date, it is surrounded by houses and doesn't really represent the Southern Tablelands cropping and grazing scenarios," he said.
"Moving out to Boorowa places us in that heartland and gives us representative soils that allow us to do research that is really relevant to Southern Tablelands farmers.
"There's still a long way to go, we've got to sort out some water issues, but we are having trouble with water in Canberra at the Ginninderra site so these are to be expected in a drought year," he said.
Mr Brown said the opening was a perfect opportunity for residents from Yass to Young to see BARS and the work it would be doing.
"I'd encourage people to come out take a look, there's going to be 20-30 CSIRO people out there on the day so there is plenty of opportunities to ask questions and look at technologies," he said.
"There's going to be about seven presentations during the day, a couple of minibuses so visitors can go to different locations on the site.
"There will be activities for kids, we'll have small robotics where they can build there own robot, colouring in activities, a free sausage sizzle.
"It's an opportunity for people to come see these big shiny buildings they've seen from the roadside," he said.
Mr Brown said it was also an chance for Boorowa residents to see the potential new opportunities BARS would bring to the town.
"There's also opportunities for employment and businesses to support the research station," he said.
"Watch this space, we have a labour contracting company that will be interacting with people in the community for these opportunities.
"Hopefully it has both a financial and research spin off, people will be staying out there, buying lunch and that will add an injection to the town.
"There will be unquantifiable multiplier in terms of business impact as it (BARS) ramps up, for example there's a breeders workshop and field day at Ginninderra later this month, that sort of thing will continue on in the future at Boorowa," he said.
What do you think of the new research station? Have your say
