Staff cuts at AgResearch have yet to be reported on the Crown Research Institute’s website.
But AgResearch CEO Sue Bidrose has confirmed to Farmers Weekly that about 40 full-time science roles are on the block, and seven staff have opted for voluntary redundancies.
Farmers Weekly reports:
Scientist job losses are starting to be confirmed at AgResearch, coming hard on the heels of the government’s science sector changes announced late last month.
Grave concerns over the job losses to come have also prompted the pastoral sector to write an urgent open letter to the new science minister, outlining alarm over the impact of the cuts on New Zealand’s livestock industry.
Sue Bidrose said the science areas of parasitology, food safety and weed science are affected by the job cuts – and animal bio-technology is to be discontinued altogether.
“The reviews of both the science and science support functions is driven by the need to break the cycle of ongoing financial losses by AgResearch, and to live within our means, heading into the next phase for Crown Research Institutes,” she said in a written response to Farmers Weekly questions.
The losses come as AgResearch has faced an ongoing sinking lid policy on staff numbers, with full-time employees dropping from 722 to 666 between 2019 and 2023. The CRI also removed 25 full-time non-science roles in an earlier review.
RNZ reported today that leaders from groups such as Wormwise, Federated Farmers and the New Zealand Veterinary Association have written to Minister of Science, Innovation and Technology Shane Reti – who was appointed to the portfolio last month following a Cabinet reshuffle – highlighting the potential impacts of the cuts, particularly the loss of AgResearch’s parasitology team.
“This is an area that needs immediate attention to safeguard farm productivity, animal welfare, and the broader economic contributions of our rural sector,” the letter read.
Wormwise programme manager Ginny Dodunski was not surprised by the decision to close AgResearch’s parasitology team but said it was “very disappointing”.
She said there were still gaps in our understanding of drench resistance, which left livestock vulnerable to parasites, both in sheep and increasingly in cattle. Other parasites like lungworm were also increasingly becoming an issue as temperatures rise.
“The AgResearch parasitology team are responsible for what is internationally some of the best recognised work on drench resistance which has really set up the guidelines that Wormwise use to give farmers good research-backed information on managing drench resistance.”
Parasitology was a small area of focus within New Zealand and the loss of the AgResearch team made it more vulnerable, Dodunski said.
Sources: Farmers Weekly and RNZ
