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In Memoriam | ||
| Number 44 | |||
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We heard with regret of the death of Sir Richard Trehane who died peacefully at his home in Dorset, England, on 28 November 2001 aged 88. Sir Richard was the second President of EAAP serving from 1961 to 1967. He was also a member of Council, active in Study Commissions and in his later years an elder statesman. His service to EAAP extended over many decades from the early 1950s. His period as President in the 1960s was a critical time of restructuring for EAAP as recorded in detail in the 1999 Jubilee History of the Association. EAAP had become firmly established under the visionary guidance of the first President, Professor Dr. A. M. Leroy. EAAP was started in 1949 in a depleted and exhausted Europe and slowly gained strength through the lean years of the 1950s. That was a period of reconstruction for Europe after the terrible effects of war. EAAP decided to invite Professor Leroy to serve two terms as President from 1949 to 1961 to provide continuity. But at the start of the 1960s change was in the air, especially in Europe. Those years offered great challenge and opportunity in many areas of life: cultural, economic, scientific and political. In 1965, the fledgling European Community was formed by the six founder European states out of their three earlier communities of the European Common Market, Iron and Steel and Atomic Energy. Overshadowing Western Europe was the threat of war between the West and the USSR block which extended totalitarian control over the states of historic Central Europe. The military threat reached a climax in 1962 in the Cuban crisis. Thus the whole environment was unpredictable when Richard Trehane, then aged 48, took on the EAAP Presidency in 1961 at the International Animal Production Congress in Hamburg. EAAP was already well recognized and appreciated by many leading animal scientists in Western Europe but it needed to structure itself to face the new opportunities.
The decade of the 1960s saw increasing prosperity and an explosion of interest and public funding of science. For Richard Trehane this offered the opportunity for enlarging and reshaping EAAP on its existing solid foundations which already included most countries of Western Europe. He entertained the vision of welcoming the countries of Central Europe. During his Presidency six new countries joined EAAP: Ireland, Greece, Poland, Hungary, Czechoslovakia and Bulgaria. His vision for new members from Central Europe was shared and matched by the diplomatic, linguistic and administrative skills of the Secretary-General, Dr. Kristóf Kállay, himself an exile from Hungary. One example will illustrate Richard Trehane's approach. I recall going with Sir Richard and Sir John Hammond from the UK to Hungary in June 1964 invited ostensibly to evaluate the large-scale Hungarian cattle crossbreeding programme. But Sir Richard had a second agenda namely to get Hungary to join EAAP. He always aimed for the top. So we soon had a private and surprisingly long meeting with Hungarian Minister of Agriculture – a cabinet member in Prime Minister Kadar's government which had been installed by the USSR after the 1956 Hungarian uprising. Sir Richard quickly broke through the barriers which were always present in those days when officials from West and East met. The result was that Hungary joined EAAP the following year.
Sir Richard was always well informed factually with an excellent understanding of any situation in which he became involved. Thus armed, he was able to bring to bear formidable diplomatic and political skills with great charm and conviction. Since he was my Chief for 13 years from 1958 to 1970 I knew from experience that he always took time to be briefed on any new situation, mastered it rapidly, often introduced new variants and, when convinced, quickly became a leader in advocating and implementing. He aimed from the start of his EAAP Presidency to bring the USSR into EAAP. It was difficult. When the USSR finally joined in 1972, Dr. Kállay gave special credit to two Presidents – Sir Richard who had laid the foundation in the 1960s and his successor, Professor Weniger of Germany.
Richard Trehane was an enthusiast for applying science to agriculture, especially to livestock. In the 1960s throughout Western Europe the ethos of science contributing substantially to food production was widespread in government and business circles. Richard Trehane brought this enthusiasm into his leadership of EAAP. During his years at the helm, the Study Commission activities were rationalized and each Commission was given a mandate to organize within its fields, the earlier periodic Study Days became Specialized Symposia, and the former periodic International Animal Production Congresses were turned into Annual EAAP Meetings. During his Presidency, Richard Trehane took the lead role on behalf of EAAP in the creation the World Association for Animal Production of which he was first Vice-President and in promoting the World Conferences on Animal Production. The first World Conference was organized by EAAP and FAO in 1963 in Rome and the second was in Maryland, USA in 1968. Sir Richard persuaded the EAAP Board that the EAAP Secretariat in Rome would provide the Secretariat for the World Association and he was successful in bringing into founder membership of the WAAP the national associations in the USA, Australia, Canada, Japan, New Zealand and South Africa.
It may be remembered that the founders of EAAP back in the early 1950s had formed the European Committee for Milk and Butterfat Recording, another successful body despite its stuffy name, which is now called ICAR – International Committee for Animal Recording. Mr. Richard Trehane, as he was then, was President of that organization in the 1950s during a time when there was deep division and suspicion among cattle breeders in different countries over how to define the official length of a cow's lactation. Official lactation records determined the breeding and sale value of a cow and her relatives. Scientists had determined that the 305-day lactation was equally accurate and simpler than other formulae. Richard Trehane was convinced and presided successfully over the adoption of this standard which was new for many European countries. I was a UK representative at the meetings when this and other items were on the agenda. They extended over several years and I recall clearly Richard's skill as President of the Board. Although convinced himself, he allowed every possible dissent to be expressed, examined, researched and defended. He was able to lead the milk recording movement forward into international unity with his understanding of science and his experience as a large-scale dairy farmer. Richard Trehane's skills as a chairman proved to be one of the most effective ways in which he brought about the positive changes which he visualized for agriculture.
What was the background of Sir Richard Trehane? He was the fourth and youngest son of a dairy farmer in Dorset. He took over the farm and it became his home base throughout life. First, he graduated in agriculture from Reading University and then spent three years at Cambridge University working with Sir John Hammond, an outstanding animal scientist of his day. In 1936, Richard returned to the family farm with its well-known herd of British Friesian cattle, a breed with which he maintained contact throughout life. He entered public service during the Second World War working from 1942 onwards with local authorities, rural bodies and farmers' organizations. He made a significant decision in 1947 when he was elected by dairy farmers to be one of their national representatives on the Board of the Milk Marketing Board (MMB). He was re-elected unopposed regularly until retiring in 1977. During those 30 years he served as Vice-Chairman and then as Chairman for 19 years and the MMB provided the main professional activity of his life and the platform from which he served in other areas such as EAAP.
Richard Trehane believed strongly in farmers controlling their own affairs and he supported co-operative marketing which was the basis of the MMB. He was an activist for farmers to be involved in the food chain. Under his chairmanship, the MMB took significant steps in owning milk transport and milk processing businesses and also in leading the advertizing and marketing of milk throughout the country. With his encouragement, the MMB further developed production services to farmers, including national milk recording and artificial insemination, farm business consultancy, veterinary services, protein testing, hygienic quality of milk, control of mastitis, testing for brucellosis, improvements in milking equipment, advice on nutrition, grassland management, technical publications supporting production and refrigeration equipment for storing farm milk prior to collection. Richard also encouraged the MMB into early use of frozen semen and research into embryos.
The activities of the MMB to promote milk sales to consumers resulted in Richard Trehane becoming chairman of the Cheese Bureau and the Butter Information Council with links to international dairy suppliers. Thus he developed especially strong links with New Zealand, Australia, South Africa and North America as well as the northern European countries with dairy product exports. He was recognized as a natural leader and served as President of the Royal Association of British Dairy Farmers and the International Dairy Federation.
Throughout his professional career, Richard Trehane combined interest in the application of science and new techniques to livestock production with his interest in the food chain and milk marketing activities. Since most UK beef comes from the dairy herd, mainly by crossing dairy cows with beef bulls, the MMB through its farm production services were equally concerned with beef and milk. It was during Richard Trehane's time as chairman of the MMB that the Breeding and Production arm of the MMB led by Dr. Joseph Edwards developed national progeny testing programmes for dairy and for beef cattle. Richard Trehane courageously supported his scientific staff at the MMB who developed farmer services, especially when AI and progeny testing were deeply opposed by many traditional UK dairy and beef cattle breeders. He resisted the claims of breeders for royalties from bulls used by the MMB in AI and in so doing took the side of the commercial dairy farmers whom he represented on the MMB. But he made it his long term objective to bring peace between the scientists and the cattle breeders – and he eventually succeeded. But at the height of the controversy in the 1950s and 1960s he stood staunchly with science since he was convinced that the old patterns of cattle breeding had to change. This success in reconciliation was recognized later when he became President of the British Friesian Cattle Society.
Richard Trehane's competence and skill was recognized by scientists as well as farmers and the dairy trade. He was twice elected President of the British Society of Animal Production in 1954-55 and 1961-62. He chaired the Board of the UK Grassland Research Institute. His international interests extended to India where he provided intellectual input to the development of the National Dairy Development Board in India which has become a success story in supplying milk to India's cities and also bringing social and economic benefits to the village cattle owners.
Probably Richard Trehane's only major professional failure flowed out of the decision by the UK to join the European Community in 1973. The Community forced the UK to dissolve the MMB on the grounds of its alleged monopoly influence on the milk chain. Trehane disputed this from basic principles and worked long and hard in London and in Brussels for the model of the UK Milk Board to be accepted as part of the European Community's pattern for the European milk sector. He gained a reprieve for the MMB – but only until 1978. It was difficult for Richard Trehane to accept that the MMB had completely gone; as it was also for many of us who worked at the MMB; and many of the international visitors who had admired the organization were mystified why such a successful body with 99% support from UK dairy farmers and a good image with consumers should be eliminated.
EAAP has good cause to remember Sir Richard Trehane. His outstanding ability was to see the distant horizon and then to have both the intelligence and skill as chairman to navigate an organization peacefully into meaningful progress. He was intolerant of shallow thinking though always courteous. His knowledge of livestock production combined scientific understanding with the shrewd interests of a livestock producer. Sometimes, as a chairman his sheer competence and somewhat elegant and patrician air could threaten novices in a meeting. He had a natural ability to speak easily and fluently and always addressed the subject without superfluous and confusing statements. We who were privileged to work closely with him were convinced that he had only the best interests of the organization at heart. Consequently he was a superb Chief. Once he was convinced of the soundness, wisdom and benefits of a new proposal from colleagues, he would quickly persuade the Board and would make available the resources of the organization for rapid and sustainable action. He trusted his staff and colleagues to act courageously and responsibly while he did not want to be involved in the detail. He wanted results and got them through inspiring leadership. His monitoring was done gently on the inevitable social occasions. He embodied the best type of leader and was greatly admired by contemporaries in all the organizations in which he served.
Richard Trehane was created a Commandeur de l'ordre pour le Merite Agricole in 1964; he was knighted in 1967; and subsequently received the Justus von Liebig prize from Kiel University, the Gold Medal of the Society of Dairy Technology and the Massey Ferguson Award. He was made a Fellow of the Royal Agricultural Society and was awarded an honorary Doctorate of Science by his alma mater, Reading University.
Elizabeth, Lady Trehane, whom he married in 1948 was well-known at EAAP meetings for many years and brought her own ambience and colour to every event. Elizabeth predeceased Richard by a few years. They leave three sons and several grandchildren to all of whom we, in EAAP, express our condolences and our thanks for the privilege we had of sharing their father's life.
John Hodges
Editor
Dr. Yves Henry, France
1929-2001
Our colleague Dr. Yves Henry died on 5 October 2001 only a short time after retiring. Yves Henry was Senior Scientific Officer at INRA and former Director of the Pig Husbandry and Nutrition Research Station of Saint Gilles from 1971 to 1990. He was educated at the Institut National Agronomique, Paris from 1949-1952 and he completed his studies at the University of Paris-Sorbonne. Then, he visited the Department of Animal and Swine Science of Michigan State University for a year where he was fascinated by the Research activities in animal Nutrition under the supervision of Professors Duane Ullrey and Elwyn Miller.
He joined the Department of Animal Science in Jouy en Josas in 1961 where he co-operated with Dr A. Rérat, on nutritional experiments on the growing pig. From 1972 to 1980, he was in charge of the design and of the definition of a research program for the new Pig Research Station built in Saint Gilles (Brittany). He was personally interested in protein and amino acid nutrition and energy requirement of the growing finishing pig. His major achievements were the concept of the ideal protein, the net energy requirement and the nutritional requirement for a maximum deposition of muscle. He recently contributed to the definition of phase feeding process for limiting and preventing nitrogen excretion in pig waste. For many years, he lead the Pig Research Commission of INRA and was the President of the Scientific Committee of the Technical Institute for Pig Production (ITP) in France. He will be remembered as a tireless worker, for his major publications in National and International Journals, and for his teaching activities in several Institutions. He has served as section editor of Livestock Production Science, as referee of the Journal of Animal Science and of several other international papers. He was well known for his enthusiasm in the support of the pig chain and for his strong consideration to all his co-workers.
Aimé Aumaitre, France
President EAAP
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