The Super State: The Political Economy of Phosphate Fertilizer Use in South Australia, 1880–1940
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Derek Byerlee
Derek Byerlee is an Adjunct Professor in the School of Foreign Service, Georgetown University. His more recent publications in agricultural history includeThe Globalization of Hybrid Maize, 1921-1970 , in: Journal of Global History 15, 2020, pp. 101-122, andFeast or Famine: Staple Crops that Changed Global Food Systems in the 20th Century , in:S. Forbes (Ed.) , Agricultural History of Plants in the Modern Age, Vol 6 Bloomsbury series on a Cultural History of Plants, 2020. His most recent book isThe Tropical Oil Crop Revolution; Food, Feed, Fuel and Forests , Oxford 2017.
Abstract
From 1882 to 1910 superphosphate was almost universally adopted by wheat farmers in South Australia. A supply chain perspective is used to link the mining of phosphate rock in distant Pacific islands to the final application of superphosphate in the fields of Australian wheat farmers. Farmers and private manufacturers led the adoption stage in the context of a liberal market regime and the role of the state at this stage was limited although strategic. After 1920, the role of the state in the industry sharply increased in all phases of the industry. A political economy perspective is used to analyse state-ownership of raw material supplies and protectionist policies to manufacturers that resulted in high prices in Australia by 1930. Numerous government reviews pitted the interests of farmers and manufacturers leading to a complex system of tariffs and subsidies in efforts to serve all interests. Overall, the adoption of superphosphate was a critical factor in developing productive and sustainable farming systems in Australia, although at the expense of Pacific Islanders who prior to WWII received token benefits and were ultimately left with a highly degraded landscape.
About the author
Derek Byerlee is an Adjunct Professor in the School of Foreign Service, Georgetown University. His more recent publications in agricultural history include The Globalization of Hybrid Maize, 1921-1970, in: Journal of Global History 15, 2020, pp. 101-122, and Feast or Famine: Staple Crops that Changed Global Food Systems in the 20th Century, in: S. Forbes (Ed.), Agricultural History of Plants in the Modern Age, Vol 6 Bloomsbury series on a Cultural History of Plants, 2020. His most recent book is The Tropical Oil Crop Revolution; Food, Feed, Fuel and Forests, Oxford 2017.
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Articles in the same Issue
- Frontmatter
- Abhandlungen
- Fertilisers in the Long 19th Century and Beyond: Usage, Commercialisation and Production (c 1800–1939)
- Management of Soil Fertility and Agricultural Intensification in NW Iberia, 1750–1900
- The Price of Nitrogen at the End of the Nineteenth Century
- The British Fertiliser Manufacturers’ Association: Struggle for Survival 1870‒1930
- The Super State: The Political Economy of Phosphate Fertilizer Use in South Australia, 1880–1940
- Oilseed Cakes in Italy and France: Opportunities and Difficulties of a Market (late 19th and first half of the 20th Century)
- Nitrogenous Fertilisers in Germany – Paths of Distribution from Chile Saltpetre to Haber-Bosch-Ammonia and Cyanamide (ca 1914–1930)
- The French Nitrogen Industry during the Interwar Period: The Ambiguous Relationship between the State and Manufacturers
- Forschungs- und Literaturbericht
- Die Gauwirtschaftsberater der NSDAP
- Schools of Empiricism
Articles in the same Issue
- Frontmatter
- Abhandlungen
- Fertilisers in the Long 19th Century and Beyond: Usage, Commercialisation and Production (c 1800–1939)
- Management of Soil Fertility and Agricultural Intensification in NW Iberia, 1750–1900
- The Price of Nitrogen at the End of the Nineteenth Century
- The British Fertiliser Manufacturers’ Association: Struggle for Survival 1870‒1930
- The Super State: The Political Economy of Phosphate Fertilizer Use in South Australia, 1880–1940
- Oilseed Cakes in Italy and France: Opportunities and Difficulties of a Market (late 19th and first half of the 20th Century)
- Nitrogenous Fertilisers in Germany – Paths of Distribution from Chile Saltpetre to Haber-Bosch-Ammonia and Cyanamide (ca 1914–1930)
- The French Nitrogen Industry during the Interwar Period: The Ambiguous Relationship between the State and Manufacturers
- Forschungs- und Literaturbericht
- Die Gauwirtschaftsberater der NSDAP
- Schools of Empiricism
