Staff spoken to by the Otago Daily Times, on the promise of confidentiality, said the situation was tense as people weighed up their options.
Not all of the news had sunk in, and the uncertainty was the main issue yesterday. Some staff were wondering what their future held, particularly as their skills were held in high regard offshore.
Consultation would be carried out, but staff believed the decision about their future was out of their hands. They were concerned about having to sell their houses to try
to buy in other centres. AgResearch announced on Wednesday it was centralising on Lincoln and Palmerston North as it prepared to reinvest $100 million into its campus facilities and resources.
About 180 jobs would move from Ruakura, near Hamilton, and 85 jobs would move from Invermay, near Mosgiel.
Dunedin-based National Party list MP and Immigration Minister Michael Woodhouse said while the final decision had not been made, and was not one over which he had any control, he would be ''very concerned'' if Dunedin were to lose such high-skilled jobs from the city.
''Invermay has had a fine reputation over a long period of time for their quality of agricultural research and I would want to be satisfied the case for moving these jobs is compelling,'' Mr Woodhouse said.
Otago Chamber of Commerce chief executive John Christie felt the whole community was feeling outrage - bordering on anger - that 85 jobs would move from Invermay and he moved to reassure staff they were not alone in their struggle.
''People have had enough and they will rally behind anything being done to reverse that decision. We need to stand firm as a community so staff feel they are not alone.''
Mr Christie felt there was pent-up anger in the community about the number of Dunedin and Otago jobs being moved north by government agencies.
Common-sense strategies were not being adopted in many of those cases and Dunedin was losing highly skilled research and support staff with deep links into the rural community and the University of Otago.
''Otago prides itself on being a centre for excellence in the rural sector. This is not a sunset industry we are dealing with. This is where the potential is for our economy to grow.''
It was vital the debate was held about the importance of provincial New Zealand to the economy, Mr Christie said.
While the Invermay decision affected Dunedin, the rest of New Zealand was also being hurt by centralisation decisions being made in Wellington.
''At what point do we pack up our shingles and move to Christchurch and Auckland with all the infrastructure and housing problems that will create,'' he asked.
Otago Regional Council chairman Stephen Woodhead said the issue was much wider than jobs being lost to the region.
It was crucial to have a local base of scientists who could work with the regional council and the community on regionally based issues.
There were different environmental challenges within each region and for Otago-Southland, it was wet soil that was highly productive.
The region had 30% of New Zealand's sheep flock and 14% of the country's dairy cows and each of those sectors was facing its own challenges, he said.
Regional council scientists worked closely with Invermay scientists on such matters as effluent and nutrient run-off.
''We piggy-back off their work. I would be concerned to see the drop in staff to 30. At that scale, you are losing important resources and critical support to the economy.
''Once you get down to 30, it is a very small step for this chief executive or a future administration to cut further.''
Scientific funding was competitive and had recently been focused on production. Now, the focus was shifting towards sustainability and Mr Woodhead was concerned the staff cuts could affect the work already being undertaken in the region.
