Invermay

Science and Innovation Minister Steven Joyce and Dunedin North MP David Clark are accusing each other of playing fast and loose with numbers over job losses at AgResearch.

The mood at Invermay is ''awful'' following AgResearch's decision to go ahead with restructuring, a researcher who recently visited Dunedin says.

Retaining Invermay's deer farm and research capability is the best possible outcome, industry leaders say.

AgResearch has made some changes to its plan to slash jobs at Invermay, but the majority of staff will still be moving north to Lincoln.

Changes to AgResearch's plan to cut Invermay's campus have been welcomed, but critics are angry most of its more than 100 staff are still set to shift north.

AgResearch's decision to largely stick with plans to slash jobs at Invermay has just become an election issue, with Labour vowing to overturn the move if elected.

AgResearch, in foolishly ploughing ahead with its reorganisation, has failed abysmally to take heed of what is best for agriculture, the economic foundation of this nation.

Perendale sheep breeders have entered the debate over restructuring at Invermay, suggesting the move of ''world-class research'' to Lincoln be put on hold for two years after the planned shift.

A final decision on AgResearch's plan to slash jobs at Invermay will be made in ''the next couple of months''.

Farmers at Beef and Lamb New Zealand's annual meeting made an almost unanimous call for AgResearch to carry out more consultation over its plan to slash Invermay jobs.

AgResearch has been accused of hiding the ''enormous risks'' of slashing Invermay jobs after the belated release of its full business case.

AgResearch scientists are developing a new parentage and breed assignment test for deer using SNP technology.

A suggestion that a company, involving various stakeholders, be formed to buy Invermay has been described as a ''nice idea in theory'' but one that would probably not work in practice.

The rejection of a call for an independent inquiry into AgResearch's restructuring plan has been called a ''slap in the face'' to the people of Otago and Southland.

AgResearch's admission it largely squandered $15.5 million on buildings in 2007 and 2008 inspires little confidence its latest plan will be a success, two former staff say.

AgResearch's plan to slash the number of scientists at Invermay came under sustained attack at a sheep breeders' meeting in Gore yesterday.