In all advanced agricultural countries farming still consists mainly of the individual family unit using predominantly family labour and management. These family farms have smaller resources than many other enterprises and, unlike some, farmers are unable to engage their own specialist services. Partly because of this and partly because farming is essential to a nation, the State in many countries has undertaken to carry out much of the research to help to solve agricultural problems and to improve production. Advisory services are often provided in order to acquaint farmers with the results of research.
Farm advisory services as they are understood today developed slowly, although the Department of Agriculture was established in 1892 and Lincoln Agricultural College was founded 10 years earlier. The Department's Director of Fields Division said in his annual report of 1924–25: “With the limited number of Instructors–six senior and eight junior officers–it is impossible to organise their work on a basis satisfactory to both the Department and the farmer.” Four years later the number of instructors had increased to 28 and from then on, except during the depression of the 1930s and the Second World War, there has been a steady but slow growth in numbers.
Under a Director and two Assistant Directors, a group of senior specialist officers stationed in Wellington controls the Farm Advisory Division. The Division is organised into eight regions, each one under a Fields Superintendent who controls all field staff engaged in farm advisory work in the region. The resident farm advisory officer, whose district usually comprises 1,200 to 1,500 farms, is the keystone of the service. There are 54 such districts, 27 of them having more than one advisory officer. These men are the “general practitioners”–the main source of farmers' information on any aspect of the development and management of their farms, on soil management, crop and pasture production, animal husbandry and farm management. They gain considerable local knowledge by long residence in a district and must keep abreast of general developments in the science and practice of farming in which they are helped by the specialist staff of the Division, by conferences, special courses, and visits to agricultural research centres.
Soil management covers the whole range of soilfertility problems–fertilisers, lime, drainage, irrigation, and cultivation. One of the first duties of an advisory officer is to study local soil fertility using, as a basis, the soil types classified by the Soil Bureau of the Department of Scientific and Industrial Research .
Crop and pasture production is an important part of advisory work. There is here a close link with the work of the Grasslands and Crop Research Divisions of the Department of Scientific and Industrial Research. The Division arranges for the multiplication and distribution of nucleus stocks of seed and supervises commercial seed production through the seed certification scheme.
In animal husbandry work there is a close link between the Division, the departmental Research Division, the Massey University of Manawatu, and the Canterbury Agricultural College at Lincoln, so that the results of research into animal production and management can be passed on quickly to farmers.
In farm management the Division has studied mainly high-producing and well-managed farms, analysed the management factors of high net farm incomes, and passed on the information to other farmers through articles, lectures, and field days.
The Division is backed by the departmental research stations: Ruakura Agricultural Research Centre (Hamilton), Winchmore Irrigation Research Station (near Ashburton), Invermay Research Station (Mosgiel), and Taieri Soil Research Station.
A Fields Superintendent's region contains “specialists” as well as “general practitioners”. They are men who specialise in advising on soil conservation, farm drainage, farm economics, farm machinery, and home science. Farm advisory officers (conservation) advise farmers on problems of soil conservation or erosion and will draw up plans to get this work done, including advice on the best kind of tree to plant to control erosion. Farm advisory officers (drainage) advise farmers on farm drainage problems and will undertake surveys to install a drainage scheme. Farm advisory officers (economics): many farmers have recently begun to regard their farms as business enterprises and have sought advice on the financial and economic implications of changes they may contemplate in their farm organisation or management. The advisory officers in economics, by drawing up programmes and making out budgets, are able to help farmers. These officers also prepare reports to assess the likely effect on farm production of installing rural water-supply schemes, constructing State irrigation schemes, or river-control works. Farm advisory officers (machinery) advise on the best type of equipment or machinery for a particular job and will advise on the installation of farm water supplies and farm irrigation schemes. There are 21 sheep and wool instructors to advise on general problems of sheep management with special attention to flock improvement and handling of the wool clip. Home science instructors help the farmers' wives. This is a recent and important innovation. After the Second World War the Department recruited staff trained in home science and there are now 10, who are located in the six main centres. They advise on all aspects of homecraft.
Two other divisions of the Department of Agriculture do advisory work. The Animal Health Division has between 20 and 30 veterinarians. Six are specialist officers dealing with investigations and advisory work on animal diseases. In addition 100 livestock instructors give advice on animal health and husbandry, although their main job is to enforce Acts and regulations dealing with health of stock. The Division also has between 15 and 20 poultry instructors. The Horticulture Division helps orchardists and market gardeners through its advisory officers stationed in the main orcharding and market-garden areas.
These organisations are distinct from the Department of Agriculture, though it sponsors them. They are the medium through which advisory officers can spread progressive ideas on farming. Advisory officers take a close interest in the clubs. The clubs, begun in 1933, work mainly towards agricultural education, and meetings are generally devoted to lectures and demonstrations, the subjects chosen being relevant to the particular clubs' district. Field days are also arranged and clubs are helped by talks and demonstrations by research workers, experienced farmers, and representatives of business firms associated with farming. The aims and objects of the Young Farmers' Club movement can be summed up as follows: To develop interest in the well-being and advancement of farming; to promote agricultural education and instruction; and to foster the spirit of leadership and self-reliance among the youth of the farming community. At present there are some 365 clubs with a membership of about 11,000.
The Country Girls' Clubs have similar objectives, their aim being to provide educational, cultural, and recreational activities for country girls, to promote an interest in rural life and welfare, and to improve leadership and self-reliance. The instructors in home science give advice and help to the clubs. There are about 153 clubs with approximately 2,500 members.
The media used by advisory officers vary, but the most important is the farm visit, often at the wish of the farmer, sometimes on the initiative of the advisory officer. Mass-media methods are also used, as, for example, the field day, where a new technique is demonstrated on a particular farm, and farmers in the district are invited to attend. Then there are topical articles in local newspapers, broadcasts from district radio stations, or lectures to clubs and other farming organisations. Advisory officers must write articles for the Journal of Agriculture, published monthly by the Department. In winter there are farm schools to run. Here, in cooperation with local farmers (usually a branch of the Federated Farmers) arrangements are made for a panel of lecturers to give lectures on topical farm subjects at a local hall. These “farm schools” last usually for a day, but sometimes for two days, particularly in districts where the farming systems vary. The Department exhibits both at summer and at winter agricultural and pastoral shows.
The Ruakura Animal Research Centre's Farmers' Week (usually held in June each year) is an effective advisory instrument. Three days are taken up with lectures by station research workers and other prominent speakers and one day is devoted to looking over the research projects and having the work explained.
This Board employs 13 consulting officers, two in Northland, four in South Auckland, one in the Bay of Plenty, two in Taranaki, two in Wellington –Hawke's Bay, and two in the South Island. These officers give an advisory service to dairy farmers like that given by the Farm Advisory Division of the Department of Agriculture. They cover such matters as calf rearing, bull selection, pasture management, milking techniques, etc. Being few in number, they prefer the group method of giving farm advice, organising many field days, and pioneering in New Zealand the technique of the farm-discussion group. The latter were begun in 1952 and comprise groups of six to nine farmers who are prepared to meet periodically to discuss their farming problems and the application of research findings to farming practice. These discussion groups meet regularly in all areas covered by the consulting officers. Meetings take the form of round-table discussions with the subject decided beforehand, being usually one of topical interest. Sometimes outside speakers (usually specialists) address the group and lead the discussion on their work and its application to farming. Groups also hold field days on members' farms and sometimes visit research stations for on-the-spot talks with research workers.
Courses in agriculture are given by two university institutions, Lincoln College, a constituent college of the University of Canterbury, and the Massey University of Manawatu. Both these institutions organise and run farmers' conferences at which members of the staffs and outside lecturers give papers on topical subjects and make known results from research projects. Lincoln College holds its conference in May of each year and also holds field days on its farm. Massey University has two conferences, one for dairy farmers and one for sheep farmers. In addition it advises on land drainage. For some years Lincoln College has also run a farm advisory service for which farmers pay a fee. One hundred farmers now receive advisory assistance in varying degrees. The College also makes farm valuations and, on request, will make individual farm-management reports.
Some private organisations (fertiliser companies and proprietary firms producing, for example, insecticides) do some advisory work among farmer clients. But their principal aim is naturally to encourage the sale of their products. These services are not so highly developed in New Zealand as in some more intensively farmed countries, like Great Britain.
Several State Departments (Lands and Survey, State Advances Corporation, Maori Affairs, Scientific and Industrial Research) are all concerned with various aspects of agriculture. The first two–Lands and Survey and State Advances Corporation—do not directly do farm advisory work, but the former, through its large-scale land development, and the second, through its large volume of rural mortgages, are closely interested in making farms more efficient. Field officers from both Departments give incidental advice in the course of their work. The advisory work of Maori Affairs Department is perhaps more significant, although it is also closely bound up with the giving of financial aid to Maori farmers. The distinctive traditions of the Maori people have meant that their problems must be tackled differently, and advice given by those closely acquainted with their psychology and their attitudes to land ownership. Results of investigations by the Department of Scientific and Industrial Research into soil problems, plant breeding, plant diseases, and several other fields are applied by advisory officers employed by the State as well as by other organisations. Research workers often give lectures and take part in discussions on farming problems.
In 1949 the Department of Agriculture was approached by members of Federated Farmers in the Waikato district to ask if an advisory officer could be appointed to act as adviser to 40 to 50 farmers, to consult with them, and draw up plans for improving production from their farms. Adequate management and accounting records would be kept so that the economic value of the improvement programmes could be assessed. The Department was unable to agree to the appointment of a special adviser for this work, but a modified scheme was agreed to whereby an advisory officer acted as adviser to a small group of five farms and an advisory officer in economics kept the necessary accounting and management records. As a result of this, three small groups of five farms each were started in the Waikato in 1950.
Some farmers, however, still considered that there should be some scheme whereby 40 to 50 farmers could be served by an adviser at the farmers' own expense. The first move was made in 1952 with the incorporation of the Franklin Farm Improvement Club. This club now employs two officers, each one serving 50 farmers. The movement has grown until there are now 29 clubs employing 33 advisers for approximately 1,460 farmers.
The main aim of the club is to improve economically the production of its members' farms. Each club has a membership of 50 and is managed by an executive committee comprising a chairman and five or six members. Each member pays an annual fee of from £35 to 50, depending on the size of his farm. The clubs usually employ a public accountant (as well as an adviser) to act as secretary to the club. An adviser is expected to visit each member at least once in two months. Some clubs buy farm needs in bulk to get discounts, the benefit of which is passed on to members.
Six private farm consultants operate in New Zealand charging a fee for each visit to a farm.
by Russell Herman Scott, B.COM., Assistant Director, Farm Advisory Division, Department of Agriculture, Wellington.