Rex Paterson

Rex Munro PatersonOBE (1902 in London – 1978 in Hampshire) was an English agricultural pioneer whose extensive business and meticulous record keeping enabled him to carry out research and development in dairy farming systems on a scale that would have been beyond most research institutions.

The son of a clergyman, he was educated at Christ's Hospital and spent only a short time at Wye College.^[1] He spent some time learning technical drawing in the office of his uncle Alliott Verdon Roe, the aviation pioneer, before leaving to farm in Canada. The economic climate was not favourable and he returned to England, grateful that he could afford the fare.

He rented a farm in Kent, where he depended considerably on rabbiting to make a living. A move to the free-draining chalk downland of Hampshire enabled him to start milking cows using the system developed by Wiltshire dairy farmer Arthur Hosier. The cows were kept out all year and milked in "bails", or mobile milking parlours, which offered a very cheap way of starting up a dairy herd. Paterson started milking with a bail in 1928 (milking the cows himself) and built up a farming empire which came to include up to 10,000 acres (40 km²) (in 1943), and 4,000 dairy cows (in the early 1970s).

He became a well-known (if controversial) figure in British agriculture. His entrepreneurial drive and evident success, particularly in the 1930s and 1940s, contrasted strongly with the generally depressed state of British farming, and made him a source of inspiration to younger innovative farmers in the 1950s and 1960s. He showed that large scale farming, using modern technology, was both possible and profitable under British conditions.

He was appointed OBE in 1964 for services to agriculture and in 1965 was awarded the Massey Ferguson National Award for Services to United Kingdom Agriculture.

Paterson took a different approach to the labour problems which had troubled other farmers. He did not set up large herds, typically his herds had 40–60 cows (this increased to around 80 in the 1960s). This meant that the herd could be looked after by a single stockman, who was given considerable responsibility.

In 1965 Paterson set out his principles for labour management:

• create the best possible working conditions;
• isolate the stockman and his unit, "so that he has the maximum opportunity to show his ability" and to "see how his results compare with others working under similar conditions";
• "Animar al empleado a asumir la mayor responsabilidad posible".
• "brindar la oportunidad de aumentar los ingresos mediante pagos de bonificación";
• "Darles la oportunidad de actuar como si fueran autónomos y la libertad de usar su propia iniciativa dentro del marco de la política general".

Paterson fue un innovador en el desarrollo de sistemas de gestión y organización laboral, así como en el uso de la tecnología. Ofreció a sus trabajadores mayor responsabilidad y los motivó con bonificaciones, en una época en que otros agricultores intentaban resolver los problemas mediante un control administrativo más estricto.

En una ocasión, afirmó que «nunca tuvo miedo de cuestionar las razones de las prácticas comúnmente aceptadas. Buscábamos maneras de medir todo lo que sucedía. A medida que nuestro negocio se desarrollaba, descubrimos que muchos aspectos de la agricultura seguían patrones inesperados, pero claramente definidos. Esto se relacionaba particularmente con la influencia del hombre y los piensos en la producción de leche».

• En el Museo de la Vida Rural Inglesa de la Universidad de Reading se conserva un archivo de documentos relativos a la vida y los negocios de Rex Paterson.
• Grant, Oliver, University of Oxford Discussion Papers in Economic and Social History, número 27, diciembre de 1998, " La difusión del salón de espiga: un estudio de caso en la historia de la tecnología agrícola ".
• Revista de Historia Agrícola, Vol. 44 (1) 1996, págs. 63–87 " El ensilaje en Gran Bretaña 1880–1990: La adopción tardía de una innovación "
• Walsh, Alf (diciembre de 1982). "La contribución del pasto a la producción lechera rentable" (Documento). Estudio en memoria de Rex Paterson.
• Crichton, C. (1979) " REX PATERSON, UNA APRECIACIÓN. Grass & Forage Science " 34(4)
• Paterson, Rex (1965). "Leche de hierba (Documentos de Massey Ferguson n.º 2)" (Documento). Massey Ferguson (Reino Unido) Limited.
• Paterson, Rex (1960) " FERTILIDAD DE LOS PASTIZALES Y DEL SUELO DESDE EL PUNTO DE VISTA DEL AGRICULTOR ", Grass & Forage Science 15 (1)
• Paterson, Rex (1956) " EL VALOR ESTIMULANTE DE LA LECHE DEL PASTO Y SU INFLUENCIA EN LA SALUD ANIMAL ", Grass & Forage Science 11 (2) pág. 93
• Paterson, Rex (1955). "Distribución de fertilizantes: problemas de prevención de la corrosión en la explotación agrícola" (Documento). Sociedad Internacional de Fertilizantes (Actas 32).