Livestock Industries
CSIRO Livestock Industries had its origins in the CSIR Division of Animal Nutrition one of the first Divisions in CSIR established in 1927. This was followed by the establishment of the Division of Animal Health in 1930. In 1936 these two divisions merged to form the Division of Animal Health & Nutrition. In August 1944 the Division of Animal Health and Nutrition was split into the Division of Animal Health and Production and the Division of Biochemistry and General Nutrition.
In 1959 the Division of Animal Health & Production was split into three Divisions, the Division of Animal Genetics, the Division of Animal Physiology and the Division of Animal Health (mark II).
In 1965 the Division of Biochemistry and General Nutrition was renamed the Division of Nutritional Biochemistry, which in 1974 in response to a Divisional review changed its research focus to human health and became the Division of Human Nutrition.
In 1975 the Division of Animal Physiology and much of the Division of Animal Genetics remerged to form the Division of Animal Production. The molecular and cell biologists from the Division of Animal Genetics split off to form the Molecular & Cell Biology Unit, which in 1983 became the Division of Molecular Biology. A review of the Division of Animal Production in 1981 recommended the formation of a new Division of Tropical Animal Science which commenced business in 1982 as the Division of Tropical Animal Production. The staff were predominantly from the Rockhampton-based Tropical Animal Production program of the Division of Animal Production as well as some staff from the Division of Animal Health. In 1996 the Division of Tropical Animal Production merged with the Division of Tropical Crops and Pastures to form the Division of Tropical Agriculture.
In 2000 the Division of Animal Health, the Division of Animal Production and parts of the Division of Tropical Agriculture merged to form the Division of Livestock Industries. The other parts of DTA were transferred to the Division of Sustainable Ecosystems.
In July 2012 the Division of Livestock Industries merged with the Division of Food and Nutritional Sciences to form the Division of Animal, Food and Health Sciences.
History of Livestock Industries
Chief of Division/Officer-in-Charge
| Division | Chief |
| Animal Nutrition (1927-36) | Thorburn Brailsford Robertson (1928-30) Charles Martin (1931-33) |
| Animal Health (mark I, 1930-36) | John Anderson Gilruth (1930-35) Lionel Batley Bull (1935-36) |
| Animal Health & Nutrition (1936-44) | Lionel Batley Bull (1935-36) |
| Biochemistry and General Nutrition (1944-65) | Hedley Ralph Marston (1944-1965) Alexander Thomas Dick (1965) |
| Nutritional Biochemistry (1965-74) | Alexander Thomas Dick (1965-74) |
| Animal Health and Production (1944-59) | Lionel Batley Bull (1944-54) Dudley Arthur Gill (1954-59) |
| Animal Health (mark II, 1959-2000) | Thomas Screen Gregory (1959-66) Alan Edward Pierce (1966-72) Alexander Kirk Lascelles (1973-82) Alan D Donald (1983-86) John Kenneth Dineen (Acting 1985-1989) Trevor John Bagust (Acting 1989-1990) Michael D Rickard (1990-2000) |
| Animal Physiology (1959-75) | Ian Wilbur McDonald (1959-74) Trevor William Scott (1975) |
| Animal Genetics (1959-75) | James Meadows Rendel (1959-75) |
| Molecular and Cell Biology Unit (1975-82) | Geoffrey Walter Grigg (O-i-C 1975-82) |
| Molecular Biology (1982-87) | Geoffrey Walter Grigg (1982-87) |
| Animal Production (1975-2000) | Trevor William Scott (1975-89) Oliver Mayo (1989-2000) |
| Tropical Animal Production (1982-96) | David Field Mahoney (1982-91) Phillip A Jennings (1992-96) |
| Tropical Agriculture (1996-2000) | Elizabeth Heij (1997-2000) |
| Livestock Industries (2000-2012) | Shaun Gerard Coffey (2000-07) Alan William Bell (2007-2012) |
| Animal, Food and Health Sciences (2012-2014) | Martin Barry Cole (2012-14) |
Sources
• Schedvin CB, Trace K, 1978, Historical Directory of CSIR and CSIRO 1926-1976, CSIRO Publishing.
• Encyclopedia of Australian Science
• CSIRO Annual Reports
• CSIRO Communications