‘Difficult role for primary producer’

Press, 6 May 1978, Page 2

‘Difficult role for primary producer’

The task of the primary producer — the farmer or horticulturaliit — was becoming increasingly difficult and complicated, said the principal of the Royal Agricultural College, Cirencester, England, (Sir Emrys Jones) in Christchurch last evening. Sir Emrys was delivering the oration at an academic assembly in the Town Hall, as part of the Lincoln College centennial celebrations. New pressures and constraints were being put on Jhe primary producer from outside the agricultural industry, said Sir Emrys. “ The increase in leisure time, the interest in tourism, and the general mobility of society had put new detnands on rural resources. More people were moving towards the country, either in retirement or to commute to work in towns. More people were maintaining second homes in rural areas, to escape from the cities when they could.

"The right of every' citizen to enjoy clean air and the beauty of the countryside is hardly in dispute, but for farmers its exercise can create serious problems. There were now many examples of decisions taken by planning authorities to “protect” the countryside environment which were in conflict with the need of farmers to control the land they farmed. “As a result of these trends and the farmer’s new role, as but one element in a complex but inter-related social structure, new problems are posed, with which he is ill-prepared to deal. His traditional individualism is being continuously undermined as he is forced to have more and more contacts off the farm.” These problems have obviously been recognised at Lincoln College, and the preparations to meet them could clearly be seen on the campus, said Sir Emrys. The ideal fanner of the future could best be fitted for his future role by being educated on the same campus and to the same level as the other members of the multi-disciplinary team required to span the whole spectrum of rural affairs.

- It was a great credit to Lincoln College that it had opened its doors to so manv overseas students, said Sir Emrys. There was no better way of making permanent links and creating a better international understanding between nations than for young men and women to share in the learning process on the same campus. "This is an investment in which the New Zealand people can take pride and for which the reward will acerue in years to come,” he said.