BETWEEN them they have about 150 years’ experience in grain and rural industries.
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It's in the blood, I don't think any of us will ever fully retire.
- Tony "Tiger" Francis
Border agricultural veterans – Alex Blair, Tony Francis and Noel Banks – have all hung up their work boots after a lifetime in their chosen fields.
Mr Blair, who established Blair’s Produce in Lavington now run by his sons Sean and Simon, began work for J.D. Phillips Oat mill in Albury.
He then worked in Wagga before returning to the Border, where Blair’s Produce provides 30,000 tonnes of grain and canola storage in the Walla and Burrumbuttock districts.
Sean Blair said his father had been “fully involved” in the business until his retirement earlier this month but was now enjoying an extended caravan trip north.
“He set a target date to retire and has stuck with that, he’s been wanting to get up to Broome for a while.”
Agronomist Tony “Tiger” Francis, who wound down his involvement last year, had been part of Blair’s Produce for the past 25 years.
He has worked with generations of regular clients, providing advice to hundreds of farmers in the southern Riverina.
"It's in the blood, I don't think any of us will ever fully retire," Mr Francis said.
"I've never taken drugs but I reckon I'm addicted to the bush, every second day I'm still out there talking to farmers."
He was instrumental in introducing canola to the region more than 20 years ago.
Noel Banks joined Bunge Australia in 1968, supplying 20,000 tonnes annually of malting barley to brewers Tooth and Resches before the emergence of the NSW Barley Board.
He also exported dressed bagged oats to the Hong Kong Jockey Club and in 1980 played a key role in three 25,000 tonne shipments of bagged barley from the Riverina to Saudi Arabia.
When Bunge expanded into meat production Mr Banks used his knowledge to oversee the purchasing of grain and feed for 50,000 sows and offspring before semi-retirement in 1996.
For the past 17 years Mr Banks managed feed purchasing for three piggeries in south NSW and Victoria.
“Grain has been my life,” Mr Banks conceded.
Both he and Mr Blair were strong advocates for free trade in the grain market, pushing hard for the abolishment of the single desks Australian Wheat Board and NSW Grains Board.
Both served as president of the Rural Marketing Supply Association, which is now Grain NSW.
Mr Banks was also president of NACMA, Australia's grain marketing peak body, which changed its name to Grain Trade Australia in 2009.
