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Iowa auctioneer wins 2018 World Livestock Auctioneer Championship
Special one-hour highlight show to air June 25 on RFD-TV

This year’s champion takes home a customized 2018 Chevrolet Silverado 1500 truck to use during the year of his reign,  $6,000 cash, world champion Gist belt buckle, and a hand-tooled leather briefcase from LMA; world champion ring sponsored by Bloomington Livestock Exchange; the Golden Gavel Award sponsored by the World Wide College of Auctioneering; and a James Reid, Ltd. money clip sponsored by CattleUSA.com.

Miller was sponsored by Lamoni Livestock Auction, Inc., Lamoni, Iowa.

A special WLAC show will air on RFD-TV June 25 beginning at 8:00 p.m. eastern. The 2010 World Livestock Auctioneer Champion, Kyle Shobe, will host the show.

Other Awards Received
Cody Lowderman from Macomb, Ill., earned Reserve Champion honors, and Russele Sleep from Bedford, Iowa, was named Runner-up Champion.

As Reserve Champion, Lowderman received $2,500 cash, a Gist knife and reserve champion Gist belt buckle from LMA. The Reserve Champion also won the award for High Interview score. Doing so, he received $1,000 cash and a hand-tooled leather padfolio from the LMA. Lowderman was sponsored by Carthage Livestock, Inc.

Sleep took home $1,250 cash, a Gist knife and runner-up Gist belt buckle, sponsored by LMA. He was sponsored by Clarinda Livestock Auction, Inc., Clarinda, Iowa; Fort Scott Livestock Market, Inc., Fort Scott, Kan.; Green City Livestock Marketing, LLC, Green City, Mo.; Knoxville Regional Livestock Market, Knoxville, Iowa; Southeast Kansas Stockyards, LLC, Gas, Kan.; and Russell Livestock.

In addition to Miller, Lowderman and Sleep, the 2018 WLAC finalists were Colton Brantley, Modesto, Calif.; Dean Edge, Rimbey, Alberta; Will Epperly, Dunlap, Iowa; Kyle Layman, North Platte, Neb.; Jacob Massey, Petersburg, Tenn.; Jay Romine, Mt. Washington, Ky.; Tim Yoder, Montezuma, Ga. All received Gist belt buckles from LMA.

Remaining semi-finalists who competed in the WLAC are Mitch Barthel, Perham, Minn.; Neil Bouray, Webber, Kan.; Chuck Bradley, Rockford, Ala.; Albert Carroll, Downeyville, Ontario; Leon Caselman, Long Lane, Mo.; Bill Cook, Billings, Mont.; Eric Drees, Nampa, Idaho; Brandon Frey, Creston, Iowa; Philip Gilstrap, Pendleton, S.C.; Steven M. Goedert, Dillon, Mont.; Cody Hanold, Brighton, Ill.; Jonathan Kraft, Hobart, Ind.; Wade Leist, Boyne City, Mich.; Thad McDermott, Wellfleet, Neb.; Brandon McLagan, Milan, Mo.; Daniel Mitchell, Cumberland, Ohio; Lander Nicodemus, Cheyenne, Wyo.; Jason Santomaso, Sterling, Colo.; Ethan Schuette, Washington, Kan.; Justin Steward, Wyoming, Iowa; Zack Zumstein, Prairie, Idaho.

Each of the semi-finalists received a custom garment bag from LMA, a jacket from BLE, and a “Welcome to Wisconsin” basket from BLE.

WLAC Qualification and Scoring
Thirty of the semi-finalists were selected during three regional qualifying events that took place at LMA member-markets in the U.S. As the International Auctioneer Champion is always given a “bye” to become an automatic semi-finalist, Dean Edge qualified as the champion from Calgary Stampede’s International Livestock Auctioneer Championship in Canada.

When not on the auction block at the livestock market he regularly sells at, or serving as co-manager at Lamoni Livestock Auction, Inc., Miller will spend his year traveling the country sharing his auctioneering skills with other livestock auction markets, and acting as a spokesperson for the industry. Therefore, each semi-finalist had an opportunity to establish their knowledge of the livestock marketing business, and their ability to express that knowledge with clarity, in a judged interview session on Friday of the championship.

The auctioneering phase of the contest is conducted during an actual sale, with live bidders in the seats. Contestants were judged on the clarity of their auction chant; vocal quality; their ability to catch bids and conduct the sale; and finally, if the judge would hire the auctioneer for their own livestock market.

Following the semi-finals, ten finalists were selected to return to the auction ring for the final round where they sold additional drafts of cattle, and were judged again, based on the same criteria.

The 2018 Interview Judges were Bob Fidler, Fairview Sale Barn Inc. and Illinois Beef Association, Fairview, Ill.; Chris Freland, Iowa Beef Industry Council, Ames, Iowa; Mark Houston, East Tennessee Livestock Center, Inc., Sweetwater, Tenn.; Clay Myers, Texhoma Livestock Auction, LLC, Texhoma, Okla.; Mike VanMaanen, Eastern Missouri Commission Company and Missouri Valley Commission Company, Inc., Bowling Green and Booneville, Mo.

The 2018 WLAC Live Auction judges were Mike Cantrell, Holdenville Livestock Market, HLM, LLC, Holdenville, Okla.; Bill Goehring, Keosauqua Sales Company, Inc., Keosauqua, Iowa; John Korrey, 2002 World Livestock Auctioneer Champion, Illiff, Colo.; Bill Patton, South Central Regional Stockyard, Inc., Vienna, Mo.; Danny Reynolds, Wythe County Livestock Exchange, Inc., Wytheville, Va.

The 2018 LMA Annual Convention and WLAC was sponsored in part by the Professional Livestock Insurance Company, Livestock Marketing Insurance Agency, Berkley Agribusiness Risk Specialists, Cattlemen’s Beef Board, and the official animal health sponsor, Boehringer Ingelheim. More information can be found at www.LMAweb.com.

About the World Livestock Auctioneer Championship
In June 1963, the Livestock Marketing Association held the first annual World Livestock Auctioneer Championship (WLAC) at the Cosmopolitan Hotel in Denver, Colorado. The purpose: to spotlight North America’s top livestock auctioneers and to salute their traditionally important role in the competitive livestock marketing process. That year, 23 auctioneers from the United States and Canada sold the same 20 head of cattle over and over again.

The contest was conducted at hotels until 1967, when it traveled to its first LMA member market. Since then the WLAC has been in conjunction with the LMA Annual Convention at member markets around the U.S. and Canada. Locations include California, Missouri, Montana, Tennessee, Texas, Kansas, South Dakota and Alberta, Canada.

Though the rules have changed, the enthusiasm for the competition hasn’t. On average each year, nearly 100 auctioneers enter the qualifying events and only 31 (10 from each qualifying event and one from the auctioneering competition at Calgary Stampede) are selected to compete in the WLAC. The championship consists of three stages: the regional qualifying events at different markets around the country, followed by the semi-finals and the finals that are held each June in conjunction with the LMA Annual Convention. Contestants competing for the World Champion title must be 18 years old, employed as a livestock auctioneer and sponsored by a local, fixed-facility auction market that conducts at least one sale per week.

LMA is proud to sponsor an event that brings together North America’s top livestock auctioneers in a competition that showcases professionalism and promotes the auction method of selling livestock.