The Institute has a long history as a wheat-breeding centre. The first wheat-breeding plots were sown at the Institute in 1955 and in 1959 the Institute became the headquarters of NSW Agriculture's* wheat research program for northern NSW.

*NSW Department of Primary Industries was formed on July 1, 2004 through an amalgamation of NSW Agriculture, NSW Fisheries, State Forests of NSW and the NSW Department of Mineral Resources.