Allison, a renowned animal scientist and a former Invermay director, disagreed with AgResearch’s assertion it had done all it could to prevent the science centre being crippled.
The final plans for Invermay were particularly upsetting, given AgResearch had built new facilities there only six years ago, Allison said.
“And now it’s being uprooted and taken to Lincoln. I think the lunatics are running the asylum.”
Relocating a large number of people to new locations wouldn’t work, he said.
He said he told Science and Innovation Minister Steven Joyce moving 250-plus positions in science had never been done.
“They tried to move 27 people from Wallaceville to Invermay six years ago. Eight moved. The best scientists went to Victoria Uni, with six staff and a lot of funding, and the rest went overseas or got employment elsewhere.
“Of the eight, AgResearch made six of them redundant in September 2013 and two remain.”
Southern Texel club spokesman Hamish Bielski said farmers being pressed to adopt the latest science had every right to feel let down by AgResearch’s plans for Invermay.
The club has been at the front of a farmer-led campaign for AgResearch to re-think its Future Footprint plan for sheep research and development, particularly the removal of genomics from Invermay.
Bielski cited estimates 70-80% of Invermay staff working on sheep research and extension would be lost as a result of hub relocations and redundancies.
Beef + Lamb New Zealand chairman James Parsons said his organisation supported the intention to create strong links between research and education but had asked for an assurance the reorganisation would not compromise sheep and beef research.
DairyNZ chief executive Dr Tim Mackle said the start of the design phase of AgResearch’s new hubs was a welcome move.
DairyNZ was a partner in the Waikato Agricultural Hub and the Lincoln Hub, he said.
“This is another step towards our goal of establishing these multi-disciplinary science, education, and business centres.”
Deer Industry New Zealand deputy chairman Jerry Bell said the final changes to AgResearch’s Future Footprint plan provided a good outcome for Invermay and the deer industry.
