ONE of the Wimmera's most well known and respected stock agents, Don Murphy, has announced his retirement after sixty years in the industry.
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Mr Murphy was farewelled by clients, friends and colleagues from Landmark, at a function last Friday night at the Stawell Racing Club.
Starting as a stock agent in Horsham on January 2, 1956, Mr Murphy was called up for national service, which lasted for 100 days.
He then moved to the Geelong Wool Store, where he performed a number of different jobs, before enjoying a brief stint at both Donald and Murtoa. He then moved to Ouyen for six.
It was in Ouyen where he met his wife Carmel, who was nursing at the time and the couple married in 1964.
Don and Carmel moved back to Horsham for three years, where they had two children, Linton and Fiona. The family moved to Stawell on January 1, 1968. He has remained in Stawell ever since, working with the same company for 60 years.
Of course in that time, Don has worked with three generations of the one family in some cases and has also seen many changes.
"Many families I have been involved with three generations, but actually with the Howards and Duxsons, I have dealt with four generations," he said.
"Back in the day, Cliff Shirrefs and Harold Blake turned over many sheep. The biggest changes have been from the days where there were no bales on the showroom floor to just samples.
"One of the biggest changes was when wool was officially tested by AWEX, as before that, it was sold based on the valuer's estimated appraisal of micron and yield.
"In the Marnoo area there has been a big change from a wool growing focus with only merinos, to more cropping and an increase in prime lambs. The way of selling has changed with more over the hook sales and now we are seeing Auctions Plus in the market as well.
"Wooltrade has also been a good change for the industry, as it allows lots that may have been overlooked to be put back up immediately and more often than not, it is sold within a fortnight."
Don has been heavily association with the Marnoo Merino Sheep Breeders Association for many years and said he was proud to be involved.
"I am very proud of the Dalgety-sponsored ewe weaner competition we ran at the Stawell Sheep Show," he said.
"I remember Hugh Stewart, Errol Duxson and Alistair Cox coming to see me with the idea of such a competition.
"Don't ask me how, but we raised $1000 as prizemoney. It was a big competition with a northern and southern section, sheep being shorn and a lot of interest in who the winner was.
"Another obvious highlight was when we started the multi-vendor sale on the Marnoo cricket ground. I remember the late Ken Newall, John Carter and Ken Duxson coming into the Dalgety office in Stawell explaining they wanted to have a multi-vendor ram sale in Stawell.
"At the time the Stawell Sheep Show was a big concern and the ewe weaner competition was very big. Along with John Sinclair, we were able to convince them that it should be held at the Marnoo cricket ground. It turned into a big event. We had a limit of about 200 rams, from most of the studs at the time and the crowds where always between 200-400 people. They were very successful sales and the area and the studs got fantastic exposure.
"It is great to see many clients return each year to buy Marnoo genetics. The area has a big influence over the Australian sheep population and they continually come back to buy their genetics from here."
"I have met a lot of ram buyers at the Marnoo sales from all states and have formed some great friendships."
Don agreed that with strong markets for meat overseason, the industry could be in for a boom over the next decade and beyond.
"I think we are in for a very exciting 10 years, all the signs are good," he said.
"There are great markets for sheep meat all over the world, the Middle East, Asia and America and they are all big markets. I still see a great future for wool with the sheep numbers at their present level, approximately 70 million in Australia."
One thing Don Murpghy has always been famous for in this region at least, is his ability to nominate the top priced ram at the local sales.
He said this was by no means planned.
"There has always been a bit of fun involved, nothing pre-planned just all ad-lib," he said.
"I used to know who would buy the top priced rams at each stud, so I would always be asking them, but many of them got wise and stopped telling me."
No stock agent could swork so long in such an industry without enjoying some banter with fellow agents and auctioneers. Don seemed to develop a passion over the years for enjoying some banter with Andrew Sloane on sale days.
"I think he is the best auctioneer. As I said nothing is pre-planned, we just have a bit of fun in a long week of sales."
With any sale, it's not just about turning up. There is a lot of behind the scenes work put in prior to sales and that is one area Don also enjoyed.
Don always worked tirelessly on making sure that rams ended up where they should and he is proud to say, it was achieved without too many mistakes along the way.