The Hermitage is a rural

locality Locality may refer to: * Locality, a historical named location or place in Canada * Locality (association), an association of community regeneration organizations in England * Locality (linguistics) * Locality (settlement) * Suburbs and localitie ...

in the

Southern Downs Region The Southern Downs Region is a local government area (LGA) in the Darling Downs region of Queensland, Australia. The region runs along the state's southern boundary with New South Wales and was created in 2008 from a merger of the Shire of War ...

Queensland Queensland ( , commonly abbreviated as Qld) is a States and territories of Australia, state in northeastern Australia, and is the second-largest and third-most populous state in Australia. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Austr ...

, Australia. In the , The Hermitage had a population of 55 people. There is a large agricultural research facility in the locality.

Geography

The terrain ranges from above sea level with the lower land in the centre and south of the locality and the higher terrain in the north of the location. The land use is crop growing with some

grazing In agriculture, grazing is a method of animal husbandry whereby domestic livestock are allowed outdoors to free range (roam around) and consume wild vegetations in order to feed conversion ratio, convert the otherwise indigestible (by human diges ...

on native vegetation.

Climate

The lowest temperature in Queensland was -10.6 °C (12.9 °F) registered on 12 July 1965 in The Hermitage.

History

The Hermitage Research Facility was established in March 1897 and was known as the State Farm and/or the Experimental Farm, making it one of the oldest research centres in Queensland. The original land parcel included the homestead of The Hermitage farm. Its original purpose was to provide advice to farmers taking up land in the area through the Queensland Government's

closer settlement Closer or Closers may refer to: Film and television * Closer (2000 film), ''Closer'' (2000 film), a documentary by Tina Gharavi * Closer (2004 film), ''Closer'' (2004 film), a 2004 adaptation of Patrick Marber's play (see below), directed by Mi ...

programs. During the

Great Depression The Great Depression was a severe global economic downturn from 1929 to 1939. The period was characterized by high rates of unemployment and poverty, drastic reductions in industrial production and international trade, and widespread bank and ...

, the land was leased for commercial income, but in 1946 resumed undertaking government experiments with wheat breeding. On Thursday 20 March 1997, a cairn with a

time capsule A time capsule is a historic treasure trove, cache of goods or information, usually intended as a deliberate method of communication with future people, and to help future archaeologists, anthropologists, or historians. The preservation of holy ...

was unveiled to celebrate the centenary of the research facility. The locality was officially named and bounded on 14 September 2001. It takes its name from an early pastoral property called The Hermitage.

Demographics

In the , The Hermitage had a population of 54 people. In the , The Hermitage had a population of 55 people.

Education

There are no schools in The Hermitage; the nearest schools are in

Warwick Warwick ( ) is a market town, civil parish and the county town of Warwickshire in the Warwick District in England, adjacent to the River Avon, Warwickshire, River Avon. It is south of Coventry, and south-east of Birmingham. It is adjoined wit ...

Amenities

The Hermitage-Yangan branch of the

Queensland Country Women's Association The Queensland Country Women's Association (QCWA) is the Queensland chapter of the Country Women's Association in Australia. The association seeks to serve the interests of women and children in rural areas in Australia through a network of loca ...

has its rooms at 589 Warwick Yangan Road.

Facilities

The

Queensland Government The Queensland Government is the state government of Queensland, Australia, a Parliament, parliamentary constitutional monarchy. Government is formed by the party or coalition that has gained a majority in the Queensland Legislative Assembly, ...

operates the Hermitage Research Facility at 604 Warwick Yangan Road (). It occupies with a variety of soil types. Research areas include

plant breeding Plant breeding is the science of changing the traits of plants in order to produce desired characteristics. It is used to improve the quality of plant products for use by humans and animals. The goals of plant breeding are to produce crop varie ...

drought tolerance In botany, drought tolerance is the ability by which a plant maintains its biomass production during arid or drought conditions. Some plants are naturally adapted to dry conditions'','' surviving with protection mechanisms such as desiccation tole ...

, and disease screening. The crops researched include

barley Barley (), a member of the grass family, is a major cereal grain grown in temperate climates globally. It was one of the first cultivated grains; it was domesticated in the Fertile Crescent around 9000 BC, giving it nonshattering spikele ...

sorghum ''Sorghum bicolor'', commonly called sorghum () and also known as great millet, broomcorn, guinea corn, durra, imphee, jowar, or milo, is a species in the Poaceae, grass genus ''Sorghum (genus), Sorghum'' cultivated for its grain. The grain i ...

chickpea The chickpea or chick pea (''Cicer arietinum'') is an annual plant, annual legume of the family (biology), family Fabaceae, subfamily Faboideae, cultivated for its edible seeds. Its different types are variously known as gram," Bengal gram, ga ...

s and mungbeans.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hermitage Queensland Southern Downs Region Localities in Queensland