Excellence in agriculture
Terry McCosker attended Caboolture State High School from 1964 to 1967. He joined the Queensland Department of Primary Industries as a cadet in 1967 and became their youngest published author by 1969, and has since produced over 40 peer-reviewed papers.
Early in his career, Terry discovered the wet season protein deficiency of northern Australia and his continued involvement has resulted in major efficiencies in tropical beef cattle management. Under his leadership, the Ruminal Detoxification Project developed the first modified rumen bacteria in the world. In the early 1990s, Terry introduced the concept of Time Control Grazing to Australia, based on his 1991 Cell Grazing Churchill Fellowship. His leadership of the holistic, whole-farm approach to management is changing the face of the Australian grazing industry.
Through his ground breaking research in the Northern Territory and subsequently as Managing Director of his private extension company, Resource Consulting Services, Terry has been a leader in people, land, business and livestock management throughout Australian agriculture, in the process training over 8,000 Australian farmers. His peers regard Terry as a rare talent with an exceptional ability to combine the best of scientific research with the best of practical experience. He has extended his services to the industry in Africa, including desert reclamation technology. In recent times, he has become a leader in the field of soil carbon measurement and aggregation and is known as the father of cell grazing in Australia.