Goyder's Line

Image:Goyders Line within South Australia.png

With barely 30 years' knowledge of this new country, farmers needed reliable information about the climate and growing conditions. In 1865 George Goyder, the then Surveyor-General of the colony, was asked to map the boundary between those areas that received good rainfall and those experiencing drought. After traversing an estimated 3200 km on horseback (not including the Eyre Peninsula) in November 1865, he submitted his report and map to the colonial government on 6 December. The map included a line of demarcation, the areas north of which being those Goyder judged "liable to drought", with the areas to the south deemed arable.{{Cite journal |title=Goyder's Line |first=R A |last=Heathcote |journal=People and Plants in Australia |editor=DJ and SGM Carr |publisher=Academic Press |year=1981}} He discouraged farmers from planting crops north of his line, declaring this land suitable only for light grazing. Goyder's report was based on the information already in his office, supplemented by the observations made during the 1865 journey to observe the effects of drought. He was guided in drawing the line by the changes in vegetation, especially various kinds of saltbush.{{cite web |url=http://www.southernflinders-midnorth.com.au/narrate/n_goyder.htm |title=Goyder's Line |publisher=The Mid North and Southern Flinders Ranges |access-date=13 August 2018}}

Ample rains fell in most years between 1867 and 1875, prompting farmers to ignore Goyder's report and settle in the north, starting farms and planting crops. The idea that rain follows the plough, developed during the contemporaneous westward expansion of cropping in the United States, encouraged this trend. A few years later, many had to abandon their properties. The land was indeed unsuitable for crops, and Goyder was proved correct. Many farmhouse ruins can still be seen in the vicinity of Goyder's line.

Goyder's Line was embodied in Schedule 1 of the Waste Lands Alienation Act 1872 which prohibited purchase of land on credit outside of designated agricultural areas. However a few good seasons led to the repeal of that act in 1874.{{cite web |url=https://sahistoryhub.history.sa.gov.au:443/subjects/goyders-line?hh=1& |title=Goyder's Line |first=Judith |last=Jeffery |publisher=History Trust of South Australia |work=SA History Hub |access-date=13 August 2018}}

There were other periods of development north of the line but, invariably, adverse conditions proved decisive. Entire towns and farms were abandoned when there was a return to longer-term average rainfall patterns. The line has proven highly accurate, a notable feat given the relatively limited knowledge of the local climate at the time it was surveyed.

In December 2015, climate scientist Peter Hayman stated that the current "warming, drying trend" of South Australia's climate would definitely "put a downward shift on Goyder's Line" towards the south.{{Cite news |title=Goyder's Line moving south with climate change, SA scientists say, forcing farming changes |url=http://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-12-02/goyders-line-climate-change-wheat-wine-grapes/6919276 |date=2 December 2015 |work=ABC News |publisher=Australian Broadcasting Corporation |first1=Michael |last1=Dulaney |first2=Daniel |last2=Keane |access-date=2 December 2015}}

Image:Goyder's Line map on cairn near Redhill, South Australia.jpg, showing a map of Goyder's Line within the southern portion of South Australia]]

Goyder's Line starts on the west coast near Ceduna and runs south-east across the Eyre Peninsula to strike Spencer Gulf near Arno Bay. It continues from near Moonta north to Crystal Brook and Orroroo, then south-east past Peterborough and Burra to the Victorian border near Pinnaroo, crossing the Murray River south of Blanchetown. Agriculture is possible north of the line near the Murray River, only because of irrigation using water drawn from the river.

When flying over the area, the distinct change in flora makes it possible to see the approximate path of Goyder's Line.

Goyder's Line became a National Trust of Australia Heritage Icon{{Cite news |url=http://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-12-09/goyders-line150-anniversary/6999656 |date=9 December 2015 |title=Rain, grain and drought: Life on Goyder's Line after 150 years |first1=Michael |last1=Dulaney |first2=James |last2=Jooste |access-date=12 February 2016 |publisher=Australian Broadcasting Corporation |work=ABC News}} in 2003.{{cite web |title=2003 BankSA Heritage Icons |url=http://www.nationaltrustsa.org.au/heritage_icons_2003.htm |website=National Trust South Australia |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070928131418/http://www.nationaltrustsa.org.au/heritage_icons_2003.htm |archive-date=2007-09-28}}

Other states have similar conditions where parts of a state are arable but other parts are suitable only for pastoral grazing; however, no other state has a surveyed line equivalent to Goyder's line.

==See also==

• Arid Diagonal (arid and semi-arid belt in South America)
• Great Plains (semi-arid area of Canada and the United States)
• Palliser's Triangle (semi-arid area of Canada)
• Semi-arid climate
• Australian wheatbelt

{{reflist|30em}}

• {{Cite book |first=Donald William |last=Meinig |title=On the Margins of the Good Earth: The South Australian Wheat Frontier, 1869-1884 |publisher=Rigby |year=1970}}
• {{Cite book |first=Janis M. |last=Sheldrick |title=Nature's Line: George Goyder : Surveyor, Environmentalist, Visionary |publisher=Wakefield Press |year=2016 |isbn=978-1743054666 |url=https://trove.nla.gov.au/work/181311884}}
• {{Cite book |title=Reader's Digest Illustrated Guide to Australian Places |year=1993 |page=538 |isbn=0864383991 |publisher=Reader's Digest}}

• {{Cite web |url=https://sahistoryhub.history.sa.gov.au:443/subjects/goyders-line?hh=1& |title=Goyder's Line |publisher=History Trust of South Australia, Government of South Australia |access-date=18 November 2015 |first=Judith |last=Jeffery |date=8 April 2014}}
• {{Cite web |url=http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8030/8062093648_05e22e2097_o.jpg |title=Photograph of a memorial cairn commemorating Goyder's Line |publisher=Flickr.com }}
• {{Cite web |url=http://www.southaustralianhistory.com.au/goyder.htm |publisher=Flinders Ranges Research |title=George W. Goyder |first=Nic |last=Klaassen |access-date=18 November 2015 |date=2015}}

Category:Geography of South Australia

Category:Regional climate effects

Category:Agriculture in South Australia

Category:History of South Australia