Young auctioneers ready to claim state title at Sydney Royal

GETTING in the swing of it before the Sydney Royal Show with extra sales is Ryan Burden who spends his day job in livestock sales at Landmark.

Selling livestock for four years has allowed Ryan to build on a number of aspirations including to steadily build a reputable business in the Narrandera area and take that further to build trust and a solid reputation.

Standing apart and setting out on his own career path which was different from others within his family was not a deterrence for the ambitious auctioneer, saying “he just always knew”.

“Nobody I really knew in life was an agent or an auctioneer, but I always wanted to do it,” Ryan explained. 

“I did sell some sheep when I was a lot younger and ever since then I knew that’s what I wanted to do – so maybe that experience ignited the passion.”

Recently to build on his skills for Sydney, Ryan has sold at the Wodonga store sale to polish his auctioneering style.

The highlight of Ryan’s role is making the transaction for his clients.

THE desire to be a livestock agent never wavered for Baden Chaffey, with the 21 year old confidently saying this was his career of choice since he can remember.

Dedication to achieving his goals is not about to slow down for the NSW finalist as he has already set his sights on owning and operating his own successful business in the future.

“The whole job is a highlight and everyday is a new experience - it keeps getting better and better so I want to be able to make my own mark on the industry one day,” Baden said.

After four years of selling cattle, sheep and everything in between, the local prime markets and clearing sales have helped Baden prepare for the Sydney event.

“You would like to think you get better rather than worse by putting in some extra effort before the competition,” Baden said.

SAMUEL Gemmell began in the industry more than three years ago and it’s no doubt his love for outdoor adrenaline sports has carried into his auctioneering style.

Enjoying water skiing and motorbike riding, when he is not drawing a crowd in the saleyards, is one of the ways Samual maintains his energy and passion for life as a whole.

“Every time I do most things including selling I try to make it a bit different and try out new things,” Samuel said.

Believing that the auctioneering aspect of being an agent “is just a bonus of the role”, Samuel loves building relationships with clients and meeting new people.

“I am always dealing with people from all over the country which keeps it fresh and interesting,” he said.

Spreading his selling expertise across Wagga, Cootamundra and Yass, he believes his skill-set has improved for Sydney significantly.

A QUALIFIED panel beater with a love of cars, Ben Johnston couldn’t ignore his even bigger love for the land and livestock industry any longer and decided to become an agent more than five years ago.

“I loved auctioneering and that’s what got me into the job to begin with – although now have grown to love the constant contact with my clients and providing them with a service which is second to none,” Ben said.

“I enjoy being out and about all the time and travelling around to sales seeing a lot of country. 

“But, at the same time it’s that satisfaction of selling thousands of head of cattle which pushes me along.”

Warming up his voice for Sydney has been helped along by his recent career highlight at a 4000 head weaner sale.

For the first time, Mr Johnston had the opportunity to sell at what has become known as the largest yarding recorded at the Tenterfield saleyards.

RECEIVING the Bruce Shepherd junior agent award last year to highlight his abilities was an extra bout of inspiration for Landmark’s Hamish McGeoch.

Hamish said the award allowed him to experience what taking planned steps to achieve a career goal felt like.

“It definitely helped me to focus on attention to detail and also progression in the industry,” he said.

In his current role of livestock account manager, Hamish has been selling on a regular basis at the Wagga Wagga and Yass sheep and cattle sales.

He believes these sales will hopefully give him an edge in Sydney because Wagga Wagga in particular is a great selling centre with a diverse range of buyers.

In the three years Hamish has been selling, his passion for the outdoors, livestock and working with people in a variety of environments has not been tested.

ALTHOUGH his three competition campdraft horses may have his heart and spare time, Kenneth Miall’s enjoyment for selling high quality stock and making good returns for vendor’s has his attention while on the clock at Landmark.

Employed as a livestock agent and wracking up two years of auctioneering, Kenneth was raised on a mixed farming enterprise before trying his hand on a few properties after finishing high school.

“I wanted to go into something a bit different and because I enjoy meeting people and doing a different thing every day I thought the role of an agent was perfect,” Kennethl said.

Since auctioneering became a part of Kenneth’s routine, he seems to have found an extra element to his career to help push him in the right direction.

“Of course the travelling around having contact with so many different people is great but the auctioneering has really helped to add a different element to my job – it’s a bit of an adrenaline rush when you get rattling along at a sale,” Kenneth said.

COMING in as the pup of all the 2017 competition entries has not aroused doubt in the mind of up and coming auctioneer Jack Pippin, as he sets his sights on doing his best in the sale ring at Sydney.

Only in the agency game for one and half years after arriving back from a stint on a property in Queensland, Jack is squeezing in as much selling as possible before his debut, selling at the Griffith sheep and lamb market as well as going to Wagga Wagga for the cattle sale.

“We do not have a cattle sale here so just in preparation for Sydney I have began helping out in Wagga too,” Jack said.

“I prefer to sell sheep, but because we have to sell cattle in Sydney that’s why I have been going over to Wagga Wagga to practice selling.

“Selling cattle is not something I am overly familiar with.”

Taken under the wing of Spencer and Bennett role models, Jack has taken away a wealth of knowledge saying he has learnt many tricks of the trade.

“It’s fantastic dealing with different people everyday in different situations – you’re never in the same place twice for a day, you are always somewhere unusual,” Jack said.

CRAVING the freedom to drive around the country-side and gain closer insight into the agriculture industry led Will Stoddart to a livestock sales role four years ago.

He thought what a better way then to get amongst it entirely and learn from the producers themselves as a livestock agent.

“You are meeting new people everyday and because everyone has their own way of doing things there is an opportunity to understand how some people achieve the same result in one way and others in another way,” Will said.

Learning the ropes from industry mentor Joe Wilks, Elders Wagga, Will said as his livestock manager, Mr Wilks has become a figure to look up to.

JAMES Walton has been a selling agent for seven years and says it is the lifestyle and dealing with a variety of people that he likes most about the job. 

The adrenaline rush he gets from auctioneering and achieving the best result for his clients is also a big attraction for James. 

His selling style is fast and energetic and he aims to have a clear big voice to override the background noise at sales.

WARMING up to John Farnham’s legendary ballard, The Voice, before each sale to get in the zone, the young confident agent, Brendan White, vouched he could sell a bar of soap if he had to.

Brendan is well versed as an auctioneer after three years of selling in a range of environments.

The Nyngan saleyards and inspiration from a family friend were the first light-bulb moments for Brendon to realise that becoming a stock and station agent was to be his career path.

“I looked up to the auctioneers and agent side of things – so I just always wanted to do it,” Brendon said.

Brendon said he entered the job when a cattle and sheep boom happened, but his main focus is building long-lasting relationships.