Broughton Bird corowa killed caused header accident on property at Daysdale
Broughton Bird died at the a header accident on Daysdale's property
South NSW's bumper harvest had a horror sequel with a widely regarded grower killed.
Broughton Bird, 66, died in a crash affecting a heading on an estate he owns late Tuesday east of Daysdale.
Former Corowa Shire mayor and neighborhood property owner in the Coreen district, Bill Bott led tributes to a man recognized as being one of the world's leading croppers.
"For a lot longer he was already commonly considered as being one of the best agricultural farmers not only in the Riverina, even right around Australia," Mr Bott said.
"We're having a big harvest and a beautiful harvest, but it's just a tragedy.
"There'll be shock around the district.
"There would also be a significant amount of sadness to have someone as capable as what he has been."
Officers and other emergency responders were alerted to the premises east of Daysdale around 4pm after a header accident identified.
Police reported the man sustained fatal head injury and died on stage.
Header driver, a 54-year-old man, was taken to hospital for compulsory testing.
SafeWork NSW inspectors were on accident scene yesterday and a report will be prepared for Coroner.
"Worksafe New south wales is reacting to this matter and as an ongoing investigation is taking place no further statement can be made at this time," a SafeWork spokesperson said.
Mr Bird is a major property owner in southern Riverina with his Stratherne South house.
He adopted the two-year storage of canola on his farm, waiting for favorable conditions of sale from the mid-1980s.
Recently, the same approach was implemented for wheat crops with substantial additional storage space at another estate he owns at Rennie, Woodlawn.
Federal state Council Mayor Pat Bourke said Mr Bird's death rocked the whole district.
"It is an absolute shock," he said.
"It's so shocking for everyone to believe and realize what's just happened.
"It's a freak accident.
"Our prayers and thoughts go out at such an awful moment.
"Everybody was so enthusiastic about the results of this event, but then to try and deal with what has occurred here is just wrong."
One of Mr Bird's children, Charlie, is Alpine Shire's CEO.
Charlie had planned to leave Alpine Shire after the bushfires last summer before changing his decision.