"This is environmental research and it's to do with our most productive sector ... it's unbelievable," she told the Herald tonight.
"People are shaking their heads at the lack of logic at what's being told to them and what's happening to them."
Some those she knew had been left even more distraught after having made it through an earlier restructuring process a year ago.
"They've just been told they're not needed by the country - how can you say that environmental research in the agricultural area is not needed?"
The Public Service Association, which has 350 members working at AgResearch sites across the country, would be "submitting strongly" on the proposals and speaking personally with those affected ahead of the consultation period's October 9 cut-off, national secretary Erin Polaczuk said.
"Ultimately, many scientists and technicians will be forced to look overseas, meaning their skills and knowledge will be lost to New Zealand," she said.
"We will be working with our members to make sure they are treated fairly through this process."
In a statement, AgResearch chairman Sam Robinson said the institute had to balance shifts in its sector's research needs - and therefore revenue - with the "need to respond to emerging science opportunities to maximise impact for New Zealand's pastoral sector".
"Declining R&D investment in some areas means that we are currently facing a significant and ongoing funding challenge in those areas."
While both private sector and Government revenue was increasing in other areas, AgResearch's net science revenue was forecast to be $5.3 million less for the coming financial year.
Mr Robinson said the proposed changes were consistent with AgResearch's overall strategy for science and what it had identified with its customers, and the institute did not intend to "completely stop research" in any particular area.
"We are working closely with our stakeholders to ensure we continue to deliver to their needs," Mr Robinson said.
"This is a difficult time for our people and they are our first priority through this process.
"We will be consulting with our staff on what's been proposed and listening to their feedback before making any final decisions."
Science and Innovation Minister Steven Joyce said AgResearch was facing "revenue challenges" as some of its work in a number of primary growth partnerships and other areas moved into a technology transfer phase, which involved less research and more development work.
While the institute had recentlty won $11 million in new projects from the MBIE contestable fund, this hadn't fully offset the decline in other areas.
New Zealand Association of Scientists president Nicola Gaston said it was "very concerning" to see such a high number of redundancies happening at an organisation that had already seen serious restructuring over recent years.
"There should be serious questions asked about how this happens, and whether CRIs are in a good place to put sensible strategy around their science and around their scientific workforce - and if they're not able to do that, why is that?
"It's fair to make the connection that CRIs are struggling in the current environment, where they're being expected to return a dividend and do commercially relevant work."
Labour's economic development spokesperson David Clark this afternoon described the restructure as "a shambles" and called for the institute's board to sacked instead.
"That's a loss of skills and knowledge New Zealand can't afford," he said.
"It will damage our scientific institutional knowledge as well as lower innovation and international competitiveness in agriculture - our biggest export earner."
Mr Joyce however said AgResearch's revenue changes did not reflect a decline in total agricultural research funding by the Government.
MBIE's investment in AgResearch funding had remained at around $60 million annually, he said, and the Government's investment in environmental and primary sector research at CRIs has remained steady at around $400 million.
Overall, the Government's investment in science had risen by more than 70 per cent in the last seven years from $850 million in 2007/08 to $1.5 billion annually in 2015/16, he said.
The total number of researchers in the New Zealand science sector - including government, industry and higher education - had risen by 3,300 or 22 per cent in the same period.
Mr Joyce acknowledged this would be a "difficult time" for those affected by the changes.
"It should be stressed that these changes are proposals at this point and that AgResearch needs to be given the room to have discussions about the changes with its staff."
