Dr David Seth Cooper

Dr. David Seth Cooper is a fifth-generation SA primary producer based at Jamestown, where his family-run merino sheep, as well as produce wheat, export hay, and canola.

In addition to their Jamestown property, the Cooper family-run mixed farming operation also includes a continuous cropping property at Narrung, as well as pastoral properties in western NSW and on the Nullarbor Plain in WA. These properties run merino sheep, with surplus sheep sales being a particularly strong focus, in addition to wool production. Their aim is to produce backgrounded wether lambs, ready for finishing by feedlot operators, as well as surplus breeding ewes.

The most recent acquisition is a cropping property at Coorabie on the far west of SA, producing wheat and barley, but also acting as a stepping stone to market for surplus sheep from Madura Plains Station.

David attended Jamestown Primary and Jamestown High Schools, before completing at B.Ag degree at the University of Adelaide, whilst working in the University of Adelaide Waite Wheat Breeding Program. After graduating, he completed a Ph.D. in wheat breeding for salt tolerance.

The focus of his involvement in the SA Sheep Industry Blueprint is to improve the uptake of technology in the pastoral zone and to ensure that appropriate research and development work targets the pastoral environment.