The chairman of a Southland sheep breeding association is calling for a ''thorough audit'' of AgResearch over its decision to gut Invermay.
The relationship between the University of Otago and Invermay has been ''unfairly'' portrayed by AgResearch and others, the director of Genetics Otago says.
AgResearch chief executive Tom Richardson has been accused of ''fiddling while Invermay burns'' after revelations seven staff have resigned over its restructuring plan.
Dunedin Mayor Dave Cull has hit back at AgResearch's claim that opponents of job cuts at Invermay have made too much of Dunedin's so-called ''genetics hub''.
The political stoush over Invermay's future between Dunedin North MP David Clark and Dunedin-based list MP and Immigration Minister Michael Woodhouse continued this week.
Dunedin City Council chief executive Paul Orders says he is leaving an organisation that has turned a corner.
AgResearch is yet to provide estimates of how many staff will be lost as a result of restructuring, despite a request from Science and Innovation Minister Steven Joyce.
AgResearch's Invermay research centre has been a big part of Bronwyn Smaill's life.
Agresearch's plan to cut about 80 jobs from Invermay Agricultural Centre will return Otago and Southland's farmers back to the ''doldrums'', a former Federated Farmers Otago president says.
AgResearch says ''very little'' of its work with the University of Otago is based at Invermay.
Science and Innovation Minister Steven Joyce believes opportunities were lost to strengthen research links between AgResearch's Invermay centre and the University of Otago.
A visiting Israeli scientist says Invermay's facilities are the envy of researchers around the world and he was shocked to hear of plans to slash jobs there.
Opponents of AgResearch's plans for a new research hub at Lincoln say it will come at the cost of a vibrant existing agricultural hub centred around Invermay. Otago Daily Times reporter Vaughan Elder takes a look at some of the key players in this so-called Dunedin hub.
The damage from the downgrading of Invermay goes well beyond the loss of expertise in the genetics and deer groups, writes Barrie Wills of Alexandra.
Leaked documents show the AgResearch management team evaluating restructuring plans pushed for more jobs at Invermay, not downsizing the facility.
Shifting Invermay jobs north might be part of a wider Government push, which is seeing the rest of the South Island being ''cannibalised'' to support Christchurch, Dunedin Mayor Dave Cull says.
The damaging nature of information and reports relating to the proposed restructuring of AgResearch, and in particular Invermay, may be why the government agency has delayed answering an Official Information Act request by the Otago Daily Times.
Prime Minister John Key managed to clear an ''air of tension'' in the room yesterday when he addressed the Otago Chamber of Commerce, president Peter McIntyre said.
Southern councils have reached across the political divide by recruiting former Dunedin MPs Pete Hodgson and Katherine Rich to the fight to save 85 jobs at Invermay.
The head of AgResearch has been criticised over comments he made stressing the importance of ''regional innovation'' in the Waikato, with politicians saying the remarks contradict his plan to ''gut'' Invermay.