U.K. farmers get N.Z. aid

Press, 10 May 1979, Page 6

U.K. farmers get N.Z. aid

From KEN COATES in London Young farmers and farm workers from New Zealand are helping to fill a vital gap in Britain’s spring farming programme. They are being recruited to help farmers throughout Britain catch up on essential work after one of the worst winters in living memory. Dairying staff, tractor drivers, and shepherds are all needed, and about 50 New Zealanders have already arrived. As many as 300 could easily be absorbed.

The severe winter has retarded spring cultivation and planting programmes, and the extra demand for labour will continue for at least the next three months, according to the head of staff services for Farmkey, Ltd (Mr H. Wheeler). The company, which is based in Banbury, Oxfordshire, has-the biggest farm labour relief service in Britain, and already has an organisation established to recruit. New Zealanders. Farm expertise and labour are also supplied by the company to many other countries, and New Zealanders are much in

demand for projects in Saudi Arabia, Libya, Kuwait, Qatar, Iran, and Syria. Mr W. J. Jowsey, the director of the biggest farm in the Middle East — a dairy farm in Saudi Arabia which milks 600 cows — said that he had just appointed a New Zealander, Mr Philip Hopkinson, as manager. Mr Jowsey, who is in Britain on holiday, said that he thought very highly of Mr Hopkinson. who had just been granted a 12-month visa. No other man on his staff had been granted a visa for longer

than the usual three months. Mr R. Charlton, a director of Farmkey, said that New Zealanders could earn between §lOOO and §2OOO a month, plus accommodation and expenses, in Saudi Arabia With the company's dairy project. In spite of the extreme conditions, irrigation enabled lucerne and vegetables to flourish in the desert, and the cows were penned and housed. New Zealand farm workers could earn as much as §2OO a week in Britain, depending on their experience, Mr Charlton said.

Mr Wheeler said that the company had always relied for a part of its staff on New Zealanders wishing to gain experience of British farming methods and to see something of the rest of the world. He said that the system had worked well, and there was every prospect of its continuing to do so. “All those who come to us are interviewed in New Zealand and are given a briefing on what to expect,” Mr Wheeler said. Recruiting is handled by Marvin Relief Farm Services, of Matamata.