Chair claims proposal well thought-out

He told Rural News that the CRI's board and senior management have been looking at the issues for several months. He says AgResearch is responding to change signals from the sector that there are areas of science they no longer wish to fund and no longer seen as relevant as they used to be in the NZ agribusiness context.

He says, conversely, there are also areas that have grown.

Robinson believes they are looking at what science is now relevant and identifying science partners they can work with such as Landcare, Lincoln University and Plant and Food.

"We have had discussions with our customers and stakeholders and we also have an international science advisory panel which we use. This proposal is not the end of AgResearch, it is about AgResearch becoming fit for purpose and delivering the most cost-effective and relevant science it can for our primary sector."

Robinson says as a hill country farmer himself he can empathise with the comments about the lack of hill country research. But he says all the sectors involved in the hill country need to come up with a cohesive plan – including what science needs to be done and how this will be funded.

"The hill country is an enormous land area of NZ and it's something we ignore at our peril. We are as keen as anyone to do that work and we are doing work for the hill country. But if we are not doing enough, then the sector needs tell us what to do and how they are going to fund it."

Robinson says AgResearch has three 'science horizons' – essentially short, medium and long term. The horizon one science is work that is moving into development and being readied for commercialisation. While the deep science, which is often science for science sake, may never be commercialised, but if it does it could take upwards of 12 years.

"We apply way more government funding to the horizon three science -- which hasn't got an obvious industry partner -- than we do for the horizon one science," Robinson says. "Again we take advice from our science roadmaps which are well-thought-out documents than we have been doing for the last three years. We think we have the mix right."

Robinson doesn't believe agriculture is suffering from a low blip in science funding, but rather that funding has steadily declined over the last couple of decades. He says AgResearch has to respond to this trend line and recalibrate its priorities to ensure that what they are doing meets industry needs, has the necessary impact and can be funded.

As for the proposed restructure, Robinson says as the leader of AgResearch he is deeply conscious of the stress and pressure this is putting on the people who work there.

"All our scientists are good people and we are doing the best we can to minimise that stress. We are consulting with them and we will do all we can to help those who are made redundant through this process," he says.

"Some areas of science are no longer being funded and some emerging areas are being funded. While maybe some scientists can't transfer from one discipline to another there are certain areas of growth we need to be aware of."

Hill Country neglect

A former AgResearch scientist who specialised in hill country research and extension work says he'll never forgive the organisation for walking away from this area of research

Dr Clive Dalton, who worked at the McMeeken Centre, Ruakura, says AgResearch has left hill country farmers to their own devices and all the CRI can see is dairy cows.

"The hill country makes up two thirds of NZ farming and sheep farmers have been living from hand to mouth for the last 10-15 years. Nobody seems to give a stuff about their problems and solve them," he told Rural News.

"For example, the Whatawhata hill country research station is all but abandoned. The last time I went past it all I could see were preventive detention workers potting trees. What an image for hill country research," he says.

Dalton is also appalled at Steven Joyce's comments that all the fundamental research was being done in universities. He's unaware of any university in the country that is bristling with money to do fundamental research.

According to Dalton the environment is supposed to be a priority. But he claims the environment in the hill country, with land slips and other damage, doesn't appear to figure as priority.

"On that basis one could argue that the future of hill country will be manuka and bees," he says.