THERE would be few farmers in the Border region unfamiliar with “Sykesy’s Time”.

Hours and minutes became irrelevant if John Sykes was at your door — the Albury agronomist would be there for as long as it took to get the job done, and the next, and the next.

His dedication was one of the many things his friends, family and clients remembered yesterday, as the region learnt Mr Sykes, 63, had died on Saturday after a long battle with a rare form of skin cancer.

“Farming is a tough business to be in — you have got to love it and it is such a part of my life,” he told The Border Mail in October last year.

And love it he did — so determined was he to keep working while he was ill that he had a friend, Greg Vonthien, act as his driver for the past 12 months in order for him to keep visiting his clients.

“No matter what was on his schedule, he would listen to a farmer’s concerns and try and help until the farmer was satisfied,” Mr Vonthien said.

“He’d end up being late to his next job, but everyone knew it was because he would give everyone his full attention.”

EDITORIAL: Sykes will be missed by all

Born in 1950, John Anthony Sykes grew up on his family farm at Goulburn, where his love of the land was sparked.

He went on to study agriculture at Sydney University and then worked for the NSW Department of Agriculture in offices across the state before joining the Albury office in 1975 — the same year he became a founding member of his other great passion, the Albury Steamers rugby team.

After 20 years as a public servant he decided in 1992 to start his own business, becoming one of the first private farm consultants in the country.

Rand farmer Angus Macneil first met Mr Sykes as a client of his more than 20 years ago but, like many farmers who had the chance to work with him, the pair soon became friends.

“Farming systems changed a lot during his period and he was certainly very much a part of that,” he said.

“He was prepared to recommend doing things differently and encouraged us to take risks — and by and large it was always good, sound advice.”

Among the measures he helped introduce were progressive weed control and crop management, as well as encouraging farmers to diversify.

But Mr Vonthien said it was more than his professionalism that endeared him to many — he genuinely cared about everyone he met.

“He was someone you would turn to when the days were dark,” he said.

“If you’d been through a tough year, he was a man who would give you support — he took more than just a business interest in what you were doing, he cared about how your life was going.”

Mr Sykes’ son Nicholas said his family was overwhelmed by the support they had received from the community.

He described his dad as committed, devoted and someone who “stuck his head down and worked hard till the end”.

“In 25 years I never saw him consult a book, he seemed to know everything there was to know,” he said.

“He inspired us to be our best.

“None of us followed in his agricultural footsteps but it was always important that we could be as great as we could.”

He is survived by his wife Virginia and four children — Victoria, Nicholas, Alexander and Isabella.

A requiem Mass will be held on Friday at 1.30pm at Sacred Heart Catholic Church, Mate Street, North Albury.