Iconic stock agent Kevin Morgan

Kevin Morgan is a successful Gippsland agent, with a full book of livestock clients and seven real estate properties listed in his name.

During his 66 years as a stock agent, Mr Morgan developed an exceptionally loyal clientele.

"My ideal client is somebody that you respect, they have confidence in you and you have their trust," he said.

"I've dealt with families for five generations because I don't believe I've ever done the wrong thing or ever deliberately given anybody the wrong information or the wrong advice."

And that advice?

"Market trends, new pastures and crops, seasonal conditions in other areas, being ahead of Stock & Land in what's going on," a laughing Mr Morgan said.

Each day was planned a week ahead, filled with client visits - he sees every client at least once every three months - and purchases at Gippsland's markets.

Adding real estate sales to that schedule made it a six-days-a-week job.

"I'm either doing property inspections or talking to my older clients who are wanting to retire," he said.

"One of the things my dad said to me was, 'Son, head up, shoulders back and be alert'.

"Being alert is being aware of all the clients who you know are going to retire and placing yourself in a position where, if their property comes up for sale, you can sell it for them."

In fact, Mr Morgan's father, Jack, was his first boss.

"I was thinking you might ask me how long I've been a stock agent and I was going to say since I was 6 years old," Mr Morgan said.

"Dad was a stock agent and I used to follow him around all the cattle sales.

"I started work with Dad at 16 and he was the hardest boss I had.

"We lived about two miles out of town and although he drove a car to work, I had to walk there first and have the lights on, the footpath swept and everything ready before the staff arrived.

"There was not a square inch of concrete in the Traralgon saleyards in the early days and they got very pugged up in winter but when Dad said, 'Run', I ran and, if I ran out of my rubber boots, I had to just keep on running."

A stint at Wagga Wagga, NSW, as a booking clerk gave the young agent a fresh perspective.

"The were a bit toffee up in the Riverina in those days, it was all freshly pressed clothes, polished boots and nice hats," Mr Morgan said.

"I learnt a lot in Wagga, how to talk to people and how to present yourself."

The turning point for Mr Morgan's career and personal life came back in Gippsland with a job offer from Standing Livestock.

Mr Morgan eventually married the owner's daughter, Babara (nee Standing), and together with friend George Stockdale, built it into Gippsland's largest agency.

After the pair sold their business, Mr Morgan established KJ & BJ Morgan, which has a Landmark agency.

His contemporaries may have retired but Gippsland's people kept Mr Morgan's love for the job strong.

"An old character extremely well known here 40 years ago was called Ernie 'Dingo' Sutton," he said.

"One time he said, 'Kevin, will you have a cup of tea?' and I said yes to be polite.

"He had two pannikins, his dog was licking one, and an Alka Seltzer tin.

"He gave me the bloody Alka Seltzer tin and I thought, 'At least his dog wasn't licking it' but when I put it up to my lips, it had bluestone all around it.

"He'd been using it to mix his sheep dip.

"When he went to pick up a fleece, I tipped the tea down the shearing shed grate floor and pretended I was drinking it."

Mr Sutton lived in an era where thousands of buttermilk-fattened pigs filled markets alongside cattle in a myriad of yards across Gippsland in towns like Rosedale, Yarram, Morwell and Traralgon but Mr Morgan believed the consolidation of yards had been good for the industry.

"Big numbers of cattle bring buyers and strengthen the market," he said.

Among those buyers came a relatively new type, the feedlots, which put a floor in the market for suitable cattle.

The introduction of scales and computers reduced agent workloads and meant cattle could be sold in cents a kilogram.

While it was hard to say how livestock marketing would change in the future, Mr Morgan predicted the shift towards online marketing would accelerate.

"I think more cattle will be sold online, on farm, particularly beef cattle," he said.

"I believe agents will still facilitate that because the cattle have still got to be assessed.

"It will mean fewer cattle in the open market, which is where prices are set.

"Some might say the abattoirs set the price but I think it's the open market."

Mr Morgan said farmers were getting better at meeting abattoir specifications and savvy vendors also presented their cattle more carefully at markets.

"Informing buyers with a separate card with drenching and vaccination dates, the bulls they're by and when they were weaned is always beneficial," he said.

"Always present your cattle well, clean and tidy.

"Clean their tails two weeks before the sale so they're not flicking manure all over themselves because that helps them look well."

Market preferences had changed, too.

"Dad came back from auctioneering at a mountain cattle sale when I was 15 or 16 saying, 'They had the cheek to have a pen of black calves there!'."

While the 82-year-old had no plans to retire, he has found a protege, ironically, another Sutton.

"Adam Sutton's family lived on a small farm adjoining the Traralgon saleyards," Mr Morgan said.

"At about half-past-four on sale days, you'd see this little redheaded kid running across the saleyards calling, 'Mr Stockdale, Mr Morgan, what can I do?'

"Now Adam is 27 or 28 and he really knows what's going on.

"He's getting to know a lot of my clients and, when I hang up my boots, I hope Adam will look after them.

"He's a local lad who knows and cares about the people.

"A good agent has a personal interest in each client, not just in how to make commission from him."