BRENDAN Wade said it was only when he hit the catwalk in Roma in the early 1980s that it dawned on him just how much he relished being an agent.
Brendan, who is the popular and highly respected Queensland livestock manager for Landmark, was reflecting on his more than 35 years in the agency game as he celebrated news of his retirement with friends and colleagues last Friday.
"Actually I left an administration job in DPI to take an administration job with Elders in Brisbane," laughed Brendan, who was born and bred in Brisbane and had virtually no exposure to the bush.
"But somewhere along the way they sent me to an auctioneers' school.
"I guess they worked out I was pretty good at talking and really enjoyed working with other people.
"In those days if you could sell you were pretty well automatically put into a livestock selling position. If you couldn't you were more likely to end up in administration or merchandise."
Such were Brendan's selling skills and business acumen that in the early 1990s he was offered a partnership in the private agency business Watkins and Co.
"I guess they worked out I was pretty good at talking and really enjoyed working with other people.
"Being in private business was a great challenge and taught me so much about the cattle industry and particularly about dealing with people," he said.
Roma had gone from fortnightly to weekly sales and grew into Australia's most important cattle selling centre. It was also in the days when Roma sold cattle on a dollars-per-head basis.
"The agents and buyers were at each others throats over the thought of selling on a cents-a-kilogram basis," he said.
"Partly out of frustration I went to the then mayor Barry Loughnan and told him as the owner of the saleyards, he was the only one who could make the decision.
"He did - fortunately the right one - and there is no doubt it has significantly increased the standing of Roma as a selling centre.
"The surprising thing was that probably only a fortnight or three weeks after the decision there were no more complaints, even from the staunchest critics."
He nominated former Elders Roma manager Eddie Chambers as one the most influential people on his career.
"Eddie really drove home why we always have do the right thing by everyone we do business with," Brendan said.
"I have always worked on the principle that every agent has to be able to genuinely justify the commission they earn on every transaction."
"I have always worked on the principle that every agent has to be able to genuinely justify the commission they earn on every transaction."
In 2002 he joined Landmark as its Queensland stud stock manager. Later he became Landmark's livestock manager, a position he will hold until his retirement on June 30.
Brendan also served as the president of the Australian Livestock and Property Agents Association, the representative body for about 95 per cent of Australia's agents.
"Before we formed the national organisation we had state groups that could rarely reach consensus," he said.
"ALPA has been tremendous. We now speak with one voice and make real progress on industry issues."
Brendan said the livestock industry was currently undergoing a massive transformation, driven by digital technologies.
"Before it was all about physical marketing," he said.
"There is now no doubt the whole industry will go online.
"We had a taste of it with CALM in the 1980s and we're seeing terrific growth in AuctionsPlus. It's not just quicker and more efficient, there are just so many other advantages.
"Regardless of where the livestock are located, producers can buy and sell, processors can lock in supplies and it's all done while the livestock remain in the paddock.
"The real winner in this digital revolution is the producer. It is helping to shift producers away from being price takers because they have so much more control over their product. It's also helping to make processors more efficient."
Brendan said the skillsets of agents were also dramatically changing.
"Before it was more about being an auctioneer and having at least a working knowledge of merchandise," he said.
"Now agents have to know how to use technology to their client's advantage. They have to know about genetics, what end-users require and especially what each client is aiming to achieve through their business.
"I have no doubt that agents are more important in farm businesses today than they ever have been previously."
However, there was one aspect of being an successful agent that would never change, he said.
"I've always prided myself on respecting the people I deal with. At the end of the day it is respect and honesty that matters the most."
