Nutrien Ag Solution's Rod Turner dies unexpectedly at Roma

Described as an institution and an absolute icon, Rod, aged 71, is remembered for his selling skills, his mentorship to young people making a career in the bush, and for his devotion to his family.

Nutrien Ag Solutions central division general manager Damon Ferguson said Rod had spent the majority of his working life with the company, being an integral part of their Roma branch as key account manager - livestock, and senior auctioneer.

"During his career with the company Rod worked at Warwick, Dirranbandi, Pittsworth, Mareeba and Roma," Damon said. "He also spent a short time away from Nutrien working for Australian Estates early in his career."

Fellow Nutrien Ag Solutions agent Terry Ryan said he'd been working alongside Rod for about 45 years, since he began with Dalgetys at Dirranbandi, before going on to Dalby, Pittsworth, Inglewood, Warwick, and Glen Innes in NSW for a stint.

He returned to Warwick as branch manager, which he continued on at Mareeba in Queensland's far north, before taking on the manager's position at Roma, where he later purchased the property Rangoon.

It was as Nutrien's key account manager for south west Queensland and western NSW that gave JBS cattle buyer Damien Gould one of his lasting memories of Rod's talent on the saleyard catwalk.

"I vividly remember him selling 1000 Kidman bullocks within an hour - it was a Thursday or Friday special sale," Damien said. "We were all back wanting a cup of coffee before the urn had boiled."

Rod's no-nonsense approach to the job at hand and his knowledge of the market was one of his qualities that Damien tipped his hat to, saying that while there was always competition between buyers and agents in the saleyards, Rod understood the etiquette and believed in getting the job done.

He remembered one of his favourite sayings was "pull up and put the billy on, shall we" if a sale was getting drawn out.

"He could lift a flat market 10 or 20 cents," Damien said. "If Rod was selling your cattle you knew you'd get the best price on the day."

Terry Ryan remembered another career pinnacle when Rod sold 6200 head in a day at a Roma store sale, when conditions were drying off.

"He's been an absolute solid rock for our company, and a great mentor," Terry said.

"One of the things he did best was to look after young people in the industry.

"He just made sure they were pointed in the right direction."

Many a time he put time aside on a Sunday to take a young agent out to the saleyards at Roma to 'sell the rails' and give them tips and confidence in the lead-up to their debut at Tuesday's store sale.

"I think there'd be a lot of young people now who owe their success, in all walks of life, to Rod," Terry said.

Damien added that Rod got respect from the younger people he worked with because of how he led the way.

"There's a lot of people's lives he's touched for the better," he said.

Friend and Mitchell producer Bim Struss testified to that, saying he always had people's best interests at heart, citing his work to obtain government funding to undertake research into the scourge of pimelea in southern Queensland.

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"He was not just an agent - he wanted to help people, he understood their plight," he said.

Bim added that Rod had also recently taken up a position on AgForce's southern inland Queensland board and had been making some very useful contributions at meetings.

"He was a big structured man with a big heart," he said.

Rod was set to retire from Nutrien at the end of July, after a lifetime in the industry.

Nutrien divisional manager Damon Ferguson said he'd never known Roma without Rod Turner in it.

"He will be sorely missed by many," he said.

"He was widely renowned not only within Nutrien Ag Solutions but also across the wider livestock industry.

"His passing will come as a shock to those who knew Rod and worked alongside him.

"I know he took great pride in seeing those he spent time with achieve success in their careers and also at auctioneering competitions."

Rod is survived by his wife Alison, who also had a long and dedicated career with Nutrien Ag Solutions in insurance, and his children Tim, Mark, Alex and Megan.

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