That’s despite AgResearch’s executives and directors meeting regional and city council chairs and executives, and university and farming representatives, in Dunedin earlier this month.
“Our concern originally was ‘don’t take these 85 jobs’, but it’s grown much wider than that,” Otago Regional Council chairman Stephen Woodhead told Rural News after the meeting.
“We’re really concerned this will have a significant impact on AgResearch’s ability to deliver the science for the pastoral and food sectors that New Zealand requires.”
Livestock genetics and deer research stand out as two areas set to suffer most under the move to ‘hub’ AgResearch’s operations at Lincoln and Palmerston North, says Woodhead, noting AgResearch’s own consultation found 80% of staff do not want to relocate.
“The concept of hubbing has some merit but it shouldn’t be at the cost of existing successful teams such as we have at Invermay Dunedin in deer and genetics.”
Invermay’s infrastructure is also some of AgResearch’s best, notably the Christie building which opened only five years ago.
“I really question the need to spend $100m on new buildings when there’s capacity at Invermay that’s underutilised. And it’s AgResearch’s most productive campus…. But at the end of the day, science is about the people that do it, not the buildings.”
That’s echoed by Southland sheep, beef and dairy farmer Andrew Tripp, from near Gore, who was also at the meeting in Dunedin. He’s critical of the lack of consultation with farmers.
“The biggest impact for me would be as a stud breeder. The changes affecting the genetics and genomics side of the research would have a direct effect.”
Even if long-term the genetics team could be rebuilt at Lincoln, in the short-to-medium term there would be a severe impact from the restructure, he believes. “We don’t want to lose the edge.”
He’s also concerned that with only 30 staff left at Invermay, the next move would be closure. “There would be a lot of empty space and as we’ve learnt in the sheep industry, that usually ends up in closures.”
AgResearch chairman Sam Robinson last week told Rural News there is no commitment to change the plans, which were “well thought out and two-and-a-half to three years in the making”.
However, there’s no commitment not to change the plans either. “We didn’t go to the meeting with closed minds. We went there to listen and there were some well thought-out submissions put up by the southern leaders.”
