History of Young Farmers' Clubs Movement in New Zealand

New Zealand Journal of Agriculture, Volume 77, Issue 5, 15 November 1948, Page 497

History of Young Farmers' Clubs Movement in New Zealand

FIFTEEN years have passed since the Young Farmers Club move- , • KT Tt-ij „ £ j ' . ment began in New Zealand, yet many farmers and present members have little or no knowledge of the origins of the movement or an appreciation of its part in the development of ■ New Zealand farming. It is particularly important that members of comparatively-new clubs and farmers in areas where there are still no clubs should have some knowledge of the origins of the movement, if only to help develop an active interest in the federation and to promote an appreciation of the organisation’s growth and prospects and its advantages to farmers.

BEFORE coming to New Zealand Mr. J. E. Davies, Instructor in Agriculture, Department of Agriculture, had had considerable experience of the Young Farmers’ Clubs movement in Wales. Under the guidance of Mr. R. B. Tennent, now Assistant DirectorGeneral of Agriculture and then Fields Superintendent, Dunedin, Mr. Davies formed three Young Farmers’ Clubs in Otago, at Palmerston, Dunback, and Five Forks —clubs which are still active. Though the minimum age for members in England was 10 years. 14 was considered a more suitable minimum for New Zealand; that has never been altered, though the maximum age, first fixed at 25 years, was later raised to 30.

Agricultural Education the Basis

The first clubs were formed to further agricultural education among young farmers, and that remains the most important aim of the movement. The first programme carried out by the three original clubs was as follows: Lectures on types of pastures and swards, sowing down of pastures, pasture utilisation , (rotational grazing, hay, etc.), silage, and certification, followed by a field day. Mr. A. C. Cameron, general manager of the Otago Farmers’ Union Mutual Fire Insurance Association, became actively interested in the development of the movement and gave considerable assistance to the new clubs, adding the support of his own organisation. In June, 1933, a young farmers’ educational week, organised by Mr. Cameron, was held in Dunedin, when an appeal was made to those attending to form clubs in their own districts. The educational week was attended by 100 young farmers between 18 and 25 years of age, selected with the aid of branches of the Farmers’ Union and the W.D.F.U. from available young men in all parts of Otago. Preference was extended to young men showing evidence of good character and leadership ability. Hospitality was provided for those requiring it, and rail or bus fares were met by the local branches of the Farmers’ Union.

As a result of the educational week new clubs were formed at' Clinton, Milton, and.Paretai, the first two being still active. Subsequently clubs were formed at Moa Flat and Miller’s Flat. Another educational week was held in Invercargill followed by others in Invercargill, Dunedin, and Christchurch in 1934.

Federation Formed At the height of the depression many difficulties were experienced and there appeared grave danger that the movement would lapse. With the assistance of Mr. Cameron a federation was formed, and a member of his staff was appointed as general secretary. On March 16, 1934, members of all the existing clubs, with a number of people who had taken a keen interest in the movement, were represented at a meeting at Dunedin. At that meeting the New Zealand Federation of Young Farmers’ Clubs was inaugurated, the rules and the constitution were adopted, and office bearers were elected. At the time of the meeting the clubs in being were Palmerston, Dunback, Five Forks, Clinton, Milton, Paretai, Moa Flat, and Miller’s Flat. The resolution to form the federation was proposed by Mr. N. Wright, president of Palmerston club, and

seconded by Mr. W. I. Clarke, Clinton club. That the federation be incorporated under the Incorporated Societies Act, 1908, was proposed and

seconded by Messrs. A. F. Shaw (Paretai) and D. Clearwater (Palmerston). The first officers of the federation were: Grand patron, the Governor-

General, Lord Bledisloe; patrons, the Director-General of Agriculture, Sir Heaton Rhodes, Sir John Roberts, Colonel Studholme, and Mr. R. A. Cameron-’ vice-pres?dent, M Mr. B. Tennent; general secretary, Mr. S. D. committee consisted of Messrs. J. Begg, F. Waite, k ee Davies,

Rapid Progress After the incorporation of the federation new clubs were formed rapidly an by January, 1935, there were 7 in Canterbury, 26 in Otago, and 5 in Southlanda total of .38 affiliated South Island clubs—and several m the North Island, all in the Wairarapa district. One of the first duties of the federation’s executive committee was to form provincial councils, these being estabhshed in Otago, Southland, and Canterbury, with their members appointed by the executive committee in the first instance. In addition an advisory committee was established, consisting of the Director-General of Agriculture, the Director of the Fields Division, Mr T Rigg Dr. D. Miller, Professor R- E Alexander, Dr F. W. Hilgendorf, Dr Hercus, Dr. Hight, and Mr. F. Milner. The first official activity of the federation was a combined field day

organised by the president and held at Bushey Park estate during the visit to Otago of the Governor-General, Lord Bledisloe.

During 1935 a new provincial council was set up in Nelson-Marlborough and another in the Wairarapa, where a number of clubs had come into being through the interest of Mr. S. Freeman, Fields Instructor, Department of Agriculture, Masterton. Radio talks to young farmers had been developed, and plot experimental work undertaken in some areas. Applications were made to the Government for a financial grant, but that was deferred temporarily. Various competitive activities had been instituted, and Moa Flat club had won a cup presented by the Point Blank Press Company for the best district survey by clubs. A Y.F.C. scholarship donated by Lincoln College Old Students’ Association was given during the year.

General Reorganisation

By 1936 the scope and activities of the movement had increased considerably, and in that year a truly national organisation came into being, as the federation at its annual meeting accepted an offer made by the Department of Agriculture, through Mr. R. B. Tennent, then Director of the Fields Division, to provide the services of a departmental officer as a full-time general secretary and the services of its Fields Instructors as local district organisers and secretaries. The Department also undertook to meet the salary and expenses of the general secretary and to provide him with office accommodation, clerical assistance, free stationery, and similar requisites. - After , the adoption and implementation of the Department’s offer the head office of the federation was transferred to Wellington and the existing provincial councils were abolished and replaced by the North and South Island councils, with a number of district committees. The first South Island council consisted of Messrs. A. C. Cameron (chairman), G. A. Holmes (vice-chairman), S. D. Blomfield (secretary) , W. R. Harris, G. Mac Kay, J Hunt, S. P. Cameron, G. Anderson, M. Austin, A. Grant, A. P. Bruce, A. E. G. Lyttle, L. W. McCaskill, R. C. T. Raine, and T. H. Robinson, with the two Fields Superintendents, two members nominated by Lincoln College, two nominated by Cawthron Institute, and a club member from each district committee. The North Island’s first council consisted of Messrs. L. J. Wild (chairman), W. F. McLaren (vicechairman), G. H. Holford (secretary), R. B. Tennent, A. E. Diprose, W. Parsons, E. Alexander, A. W. Hudson, and S. Freeman, with the Fields Superintendents and club delegates. The general executive committee mentioned earlier was reconstituted and renamed the Dominion executive committee; it consisted of a president, a vice-president, four representatives from each island council, two representatives from the Department of Agriculture, and one representative each of the . New Zealand Farmers’ Union, the Royal Agricultural Society of New Zealand, Lincoln College, and Massey College.

Mr. S. Freeman, then Fields Instructor, Masterton, was appointed by the Department of Agriculture as Dominion organising secretary; that appointment arose from the interest in the movement shown by Mr. Freeman, who was responsible for the formation of a number of clubs in his district —the first group of clubs in the North Island.

After the reorganisation the first meeting of the new Dominion executive committee took place on April 14, 1937. By then there were 60 clubs in the South Island and 58 in the North Island and club activity had increased in scope to include field days, competitions of many kinds, social gatherings, district tours, and agricultural weeks.

Publicity Measures

In the early stages 2 pages of Y.F.C. material were included in the monthly issues of “Point Blank”, the official organ of the Farmers’ Union, and reprints in leaflet form were distributed to all members each month.

Toward the end of 1937 the Department of Agriculture offered to make the “Journal of Agriculture” the official organ of the federation, the “Journal” to devote up to 6 pages a month as a special Y.F.C. section, the annual subscription to be Is. a year, post free, for active Y.F.C. members. The offer was accepted, and subsequently the constitution was altered to increase the annual subscription from 2s. 6d. a member to 3s. 6d., the extra Is. to be forwarded to headquarters by club secretaries to cover the cost of “Journal” service. Under that arrangement all members became subscribers to the “Journal of Agriculture”, at the concession rate, the “Journals” being posted individually to members’ addresses instead of the bulk distribution which had been the practice until then.

In 1946 the post-war revival of the movement made increasing demands on the available space in the Y.F.C. section of the “Journal”, and the Department arranged to provide the organisation with a 16-page supplement devoted entirely to Y.F.C. affairs. The Supplement is sent with the “Journal” to all Y.F.C. members and is also available to other interested subscribers who apply for it to the federation’s headquarters. The first issue of the Supplement appeared in July, 1946.

In 1937 the Government agreed to make a grant of £5OO to the federation in addition to the various costs of the movement borne by the Department of Agriculture. That grant has been paid annually ever since, and was increased to £lOOO in 1948.

Stock-judging Competitions

In November, 1937, a national stockjudging competition was held at the Royal Show in Palmerston North, when 70 North Island and 31 South Island members competed in four classes, 203 individual entries being received. This competition was the basis of selection of four members of a party of five invited to tour Australia on the occasion of the sesquicentennial celebrations. The winners of

the four classes were A. Fisher, Carterton club (Romneys), H. McKenzie, Carterton (Jerseys), A. Viles, Apiti (Clydesdales), and A. Cowan, Apiti (pigs). A South Island member of the team for Australia was selected, being C. M. Whatman, of the Waihaorunga club, who was appointed leader of the party. At Sydney Royal Show stockjudging competitions Cowan and Fisher gained second place in the dairy cow class and third place in the pig class respectively in the students’ division.

Visit of British Young Farmers

In April, 1938, four young farmers from Great Britain, who had also taken part in the tour of Australia, accompanied the returning New Zealand party and spent 20 days touring New Zealand. This was the first visit to the Dominion of any official overseas Y.F.C. party, and it was followed in 1940 by a visit by two Western Australia Junior Farmers’ Federation members.

To mark the New Zealand centennial year the federation had invited Y.F.C. organisations and similar movements throughout the Empire to send parties to New Zealand, where they would become guests of the federation at the Centennial Show in Wellington and later during a tour of the Dominion. The outbreak of war interfered with the plans and only the Western Australia members were able to visit New Zealand.

The first post-war official Y.F.C. visitor from overseas was Austin Ninnes, winner of an all-Australia champion young farmer contest, who visited New Zealand in April, 1947. under the sponsorship of the Australian Broadcasting Commission. He was in New Zealand for about 6 weeks and during that time he saw most of the country’s farming areas and attended a wide variety of Y.F.C. activities.

Important Changes in 1938

In 1938 the North and South Island councils were abolished and four new councils were instituted—Otago-South-land, Canterbury, Wellington, and Auckland. The constitution of the Dominion executive committee was simultaneously altered to provide for representation from each of the new councils. Other changes in the rules included the raising of the age limit for active membership from 25 to 30 years (at the request of members themselves), the alteration in designation of someunit office bearers and the establishment of a Dominion executive emergency committee.

National competitions were proposed in 1938, when plans were made for a national stock-judging competition tO' be held in 1939 and for debating contests to be placed on a national basis. A national shearing competition (abandoned during the war period and not yet revived) was also instituted, and educational inter-district tours were begun.

Wartime Decline in Strength

Early in 1940 there were 207 clubs with a total active membership of about 6000. The war caused a diminution of organised activity in the clubs, and as it progressed an increasing

number of clubs found it necessary to go into recess. Early in 1941 there were still 172 active clubs, but by the end of that year the number of active clubs had been reduced to 126 and the federation was faced with the need for reducing its activities considerably. Early in 1942, with only 81 clubs still active, a plan was drawn up whereby units of the federation could be kept alive for the duration of the war. By the date of the eighth annual general meeting (July 1, 1942) clubs had fallen in number to 67 and further modifications of the organisation’s programme were adopted. Of these 67 clubs still nominally active a number held only annual meetings and did not engage in any other form of club activity.

Clubs in Armed Forces In 1941 a club was formed in a regiment of the Second N.Z.E.F. in the Middle East, and subsequently a large number of clubs came into being in the armed forces. Apart from several clubs in the Middle East in both field units and base areas such as hospitals and convalescent depots, a chain of 14 clubs was formed in the Pacific area in army units, one was formed in a prisoner-of-war camp in Italy, and others were formed in air force stations in the Middle East, Pacific, and New Zealand. There was also a club in the army camp at Palmerston North. Land Settlement Despite the curtailment of club activities caused by the war, several important policy matters received consideration in 1941 and 1942. Early in 1941 consideration was given to the need for the development of a landsettlement scheme, and the subject was further dealt with at subsequent meetings of the Dominion executive committee. Progress in developing a clearcut and satisfactory policy was necessarily slow, and little could be done during the war years. Since then the project has been approached with renewed vigour, and the federation is at present preparing a survey of the land-settlement needs of its members as a major step toward the further elaboration of a concrete scheme. National Memorial Early in 1941 the need for a national Y.F.C. war memorial was recognised and preliminary discussions on that project took place during the year. The principle of a national memorial was fully approved at the federation’s annual general meeting in 1942, and subsequently all units of the organisation were given the opportunity to submit suggestions on the form the memorial should take. At its annual general meeting in 1946 the federation approved the recommendations of the special national memorial sub-com-mittee.

The scheme adopted embraced the provision of additional accommodation at Massey and Lincoln Colleges to enable Y.F.C. members to take advantage of special short courses for them. The proposed memorial buildings, which will house appropriate records of members who lost their lives on active service, will thus provide an enduring and creative memorial to the war services of the movement’s members. Of its pre-war membership of about 6000, more than 3500 saw active service and about 500 lost their lives. The sum needed for the proposed buildings is estimated to be £20,000 and members are at present engaged in raising that sum. It is hoped to close the fund before the annual general meeting in June, 1949. Country Girls' Clubs During the war period it was suggested that girls should be admitted to Y.F.C. membership, but the idea did not meet with general approval. Instead, the proposal arose of sponsoring a sister organisation of clubs to cater for the needs of country girls. Progress with that scheme has been slow, but a number of clubs were established in Canterbury and later three in the North Island. On August 25, 1948. at a meeting in Timaru of representatives of the Y.F.C., Country Girls’ Clubs, and the Department of Agriculture, the New Zealand Federation of Country Girls’ Clubs was formed. Post-war Revival The organisation was just reaching the point of firm establishment in ab parts of the Dominion when war caused a temporary setback, but the re-establishment of the movement, on its peacetime basis took place rapidly

after the cessation of hostilities. At the date of the annual general meeting in 1942 there were 67 active clubs, in July, 1943, 62, and in July, 1944, 72. By July, 1945, there were 104 active clubs, a : total which grew to 210 by July, 1946. The growth of club strength is shown in the table on this page. The membership of the organisation in 1948 exceeded 9000 including advisory members. Suspended during the war, certain national activities have been renewed and keenly supported. Major activities include the national stock-judging competitions, for which entries are received from district teams, and the debating contest, in which inter-club, inter-district, inter -council, and interisland rounds carry the winning team to the national championship. Inter-district and inter-island tours have been developed with enthusiasm, and this year 13 districts organised touring parties. The. most favoured type of tour from the point of view of educational values is the billeted tour, in which touring members are billeted with hosts for 1 to 2 weeks, thus entering into the home and farm life of the hosts, to their mutual advantage and enlightenment. Less beneficial are the purely sight-seeing conducted tours in which hotel accommodation is availed of and local places of interest are visited. Pppular in some localities is the industrial tour, in which parties visit the cities to see over factories or other large industrial institutions. A promising future is indicated for the Y.F.C. movement. ; Pursuing the aims of improving agricultural education. giving training in leadership, and developing social life in rural areas, the organisation offers a valuable opportunity for enhancing the status of all farming communities. The aims of the federation are the improvement of the standard of farming and citizenship of the young farmers of the country. Such aims must ultimately affect also the standards of life of the country as a whole. ”

NUMBERS OF YOUNG FARMERS’ CLUBS Council Pre-war 1943 1944 1945 . 1946 1947 1948 Otago-Southland ..35 12 14 20 29 38 47 Canterbury .... 38 17 21 27 46 53 54 Wellington .... 77 18 18 29 69 90 97 Auckland .... 53 15 19 28 66 97 ICB Totals .. ..... 203 62 72 104 210 278 306