b"AGENTS FOR THE WHEAT BOARD AND CALTEXWith ever an eye for opportunity, JT, Maxand Clyde became agents for Caltex afterthe Second World War, supplying fuel tothe farmers and service stations in the area. As Jean tells it, You had to dabble in lotsof things to make some money back thenand farmers always needed fuel. The family was also an agent for the Australian Wheat Board (AWB), which protected farmers from unstable prices. Growers from all around the area would deliver their wheat to Above (L-R) Ruth, Chris and Clyde JohnsonJohnsons, and Johnsons would load itontoat Chris's fourteenth birthday party.railway trucks. While itwas waiting for transit, the wheat was arranged in towering stacks near the chaff mills.Since the days when, as boys, their father Beno Rohdes nephew, Ian, recalls carting taught them how to cut chaff by hand, Max the Rohde familys hay to the Johnsons site and Clyde had been learning the business to be stored. Max and Clyde would be stacking from the ground up, getting ready to take the hay, and me or my brother, Ross, would what JT had created and build onit. be throwing the hay into the shed, he says.JT Johnson would be hosing down the While Max was gentle and quiet with excellent shed to keep itmoist before chaffing. Stacking business acumen, Clyde was tougher and that wheat was a big job, very labour intensive.more gregarious. As the buyer, he spent a lot Every bag had to be weighed and recorded andof time on the road, building relationships with then lifted and stacked onto these high stacks. farmers and making deals. In many ways, they were so different, but it was these differences that made them a great team. JOHNSONS100 YEARS IN THE MAKINGTURMOIL AND GROWTH 21"