Students Find Positions On Farms

Press, Volume CVIII, Issue 31784, 14 September 1968, Page 10

Students Find Positions On Farms

In the height of the summer Lincoln College will have well in excess of 1000 students or pre-entry students working on farms throughout the country. There are now some 560 students doing their practical farm work before starting the diploma of agriculture course, and another 215 who are half-way through the course are at present out on farms.

Mr G. R. Lyall, tutor in rural education, who has close contact with students doing their two years practical farm training before entering the diploma of agriculture course at the college, said this week he had been “pleasantly surprised” at the way that students now on the course or awaiting entry to the course had found positions on farms in spite of the current economic recession in farming.

Some 215 students have now completed the first year of the two-year diploma course and they go out on farms from early in August until February. Mr Lyall said that they had all been placed. There had, however, been a little difficulty in some of them finding jobs that were well paid as the majority of students had to earn money over this period to enable them to carry on their studies next year. A very great number were working their own way through the college. In some of the North Island dairying districts the wages being offered to students were low, he said. Here, where the pinch was apparently being felt most, offers were down to $lO per week. Another 560 young people are now on farms doing their pre-entry practical farm training. Some 280 are due to begin their diploma course

next year and at least 280 In 1970. In 1966, the year that Mr Lyall took over his present position, only 150 students entered the diploma course.

Again all of these pre-entry students had been able to get positions on farms, he said. However, there had been a difficulty this year in that about 15 to 20 cases the pre-entry students had been put off for two or three months in the winter period. In the past Mr Lyall said that farmers had frequently made work for students at this time of the year. Students who had been in this category this year had to take on casual work, such as potato picking. A rather hopeful sign recently, however, has been that there has been something of a demand for students in training or doing their pre-entry training. Mr Lyall said that farmers were apparently realising that they were not able to get on on their own altogether. It also seemed to be difficult still for farmers to get good labour and they were realising that students could be the best type of labour. The fact that pre-entry students and students at present at the college are available for farm jobs is made as widely known as possible. Mr Lyall said that he advised farm advisory officers of the Department of Agriculture,

farm improvement clubs, stock and station agents, and agricultural and pastoral associations.

Mr Lyall is hoping to build up a file of farmers who have taken students in the past so he can make regular contact with them and find out from them what vacancies they have for students.

Although it was basically the responsibility of students to find their own jobs, with the numbers who came from a city background and had not had any previous contact with farmers or farming, he was becoming increasingly involved in seeking to help in placing students. Mr M. L. Smetham, lecturer in agronomy at the college, who is looking after the interests of degree students who have to do 48 weeks of practical work during their course, said students who

still had to do the part of their practical work on North Island dairy farms could have some difficulty in finding places. Similarly the placing of girl students could be a little difficult He said he had contacted some 25 farmers, many of whom were North Island dairy farmers, who had students before and all but two of them had replied saying that they had no vacancies on this occasion.

On the other hand, Mr Smetham said, in the last week or so he had had five farmers contact him who had vacancies.

There are at present about 300 degree students.