By JACQUELINE ROWARTH
Agricultural scientist. Died aged 68.
Dr Alan Kirton dedicated his working life to improving the quality of meat production in New Zealand.
He gained an agricultural degree at Massey University, which he represented at cricket, tennis, table-tennis, rugby and debating; and a masters degree (First Class) in sheep and
dairy husbandry, and a doctorate in food science at Michigan State University.
His career began at the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries in 1963 and ended with retirement from AgResearch in 1998. At no stage did he stop learning and imparting his enthusiasm for research to others.
He was also active in technology transfer - making sure New Zealand's farmers benefited from the results of his research.
Kirton's contribution to meat science in New Zealand and internationally was enormous. He was world renowned for his expertise on growth, development and meat quality of farmed animals, and he contributed to more than 270 publications in his field of work.
He dispelled many of the myths associated with meat production.
For instance, he proved that carcass shape had little or no effect on meat yield or quality, and that meat from ram lambs had no "extra odour" when cooked.
Ram lambs now make up a high proportion of our lamb exports as they have leaner carcasses than castrated rams or ewes.
He was also forthright in some of his criticisms of the meat industry, warning in 1988, for example, that meat companies could not expect to have anything other than marketing problems with some of the products they were sending overseas.
He said there was still not enough emphasis on quality control and finding out exactly what the consumer wanted.
"I bought a boneless rolled shoulder which was 30 per cent fat. If that reached America you could forget about sending another."
Kirton's contribution to the advancement of animal sciences was recognised in 1998 by the Royal Society, which awarded him the Hutton Medal, an annual award recognising work of great scientific or technological merit in New Zealand.
He had earlier gained an MBE, fellowship of the Royal Society and the Institute of Agricultural Science, and honorary life membership of the Society of Animal Production.
He also made contributions to the agricultural profession as an active member of the Institute of Agricultural Science's Waikato branch, and as a Certified Practising Agriculturalist.
Kirton died of cancer. He is survived by wife, Helen, children and grandchildren.
