The irony of spending his final days flood-bound at his St George base was not lost on Mr Knights who has seen plenty of dry gullies since he first joined the then Department of Primary Industries, DPI, as a cadet in 1969.

“I’ve always had faith in the sheep industry and there is a future for specialist woolgrowers who can achieve high fleece yields and lambing percentages.

“I think there will be a place for smaller flocks in closer in mixed farming areas -- perhaps 1000 to 2000 head cutting 7 kilos of wool with 120 percent lambing.

“There are challenges managing fly strike to meet the requirements of our international customers and getting on top of wild dogs. There will always be more work with sheep.

“It will not be easy at current wool prices which are ok but certainly not brilliant,” Mr Knights said.

During his years of service to the industry, sheep numbers in Queensland have fallen from a peak well above 20 million to less than 5 million today.

Mr Knights said there would not be any rapid rebound in flock numbers.

High sheep prices fuelled by a strong meat market would make it difficult for anyone to afford to buy in. With the use of terminal sires for prime lamb production, there were not the numbers of Merino ewe replacements that used to be available.

Mr Knights was born and raised in St George but spent some of his early life on the family sheep property at Bollon. Before joining the DPI he studied animal husbandry at Queensland Agricultural College, Gatton. Later studies at Gatton College included an Associate Diploma in Rural Extension.