2010 Convention Round Up

This years LMAC Annual Convention  was hosted by Manitoba Livestock Marketing Association with more than 200 attending the Conventions events over the 3 days.
Scott Anderson and Rick Wright, co-chairs of the Convention, treated everyone on the opening  night with the “Taste of Manitoba”: a sampling of Manitoba-grown food and local recipes.

The 2010 Canadian Livestock Auctioneering Championship was held on Friday and hosted by Winnipeg Livestock Sales, where 29 Auctioneers from Quebec to British Columbia met to compete for the Canadian Championship. This year’s judging panel brought together a wealth of experience from the livestock auction business:

• Bob Perlich – Owner/Operator, Perlich Bros. Auction, Lethbridge, Alberta.
• Dan Skeels – Head auctioneer at VJV in Ponoka, Alberta, LMAC’s first champion and went on to win the International Championship at the Calgary Stampede and the Worlds in Montana.
• Ross Annett – 2004 Canadian Champion from Brooks, Alberta and Auctioneer for the Bow Slope Shipping Association.
• Jim Quintaine Owner/Operator of P. Quintaine and Son in Brandon, Manitoba.
• Harvey Welter has helped organize both the provincial and national competitions in Saskatchewan and is a salesman for Saskatoon Livestock Sales.
• Ross McCall is an order buyer from Brussels, Ontario and McCall Livestock just opened a new state-of-the-art buying facility last year.

With a good balance between newcomers and veteran auctioneers, the judges had their work cut out for them, as several thousand head of cattle were auctioned off to buyers from across Canada and the US.  This years competition was also seen across the country on  Direct Livestock Marketing Systems network, who conducts live cattle sales via the internet from Locations in Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba.

Valley Auction’s Rodney Burnett defeated 28 other auctioneers to claim the crown as the  2010 Canadian Livestock Auctioneer Champion!

The remaining Auctioneers in the top ten were (alphabetically):

• Brennin Jack from Yorktown, Saskatchewan, sponsored by Heartland Livestock Sales
• Clayton Hawreluik, of Sheho, SK; sponsored by Heartland Livestock Sales
• Jason Penner, of Steinbach, MB; sponsored by Grunthal Auction Mart
• Kevin McArter of Brussels, ON: sponsored by Brussels Livestock Exhange
• Lyle Roberts of Cromer, MB; sponsored by Heartland Livestock
• Rob Bergevin  of Stavely, Alberta; sponsored by VJV Foothills Livestock Auction
• Shawn Gist  of Gibbons, AB; sponsored by Vold Jones and Vold
• Tim Dowler, from Winnipeg, Manitoba; sponsored by Winnipeg Livestock Sales
• Travis Rogers of Clyde, Alberta ; sponsored by Nilsson Brothers Inc.

Rookie of the Year, awarded to an auctioneer with five or fewer years of experience was won by Scott Campbell, from Brandon, MB. Scott was sponsored by Killarney Auction Mart and was presented with the Ivomec Rookie Buckle.

Rob Bergevin, from Stavely, AB, was voted the most Congenial Auctioneer by his fellow Competitors and was given the Jim Raffan Memorial Buckle, sponsored by the Raffan family.

On behalf of the breed Associations, Brian Good of the Canadian Angus Association, presented Winnipeg Livestock Sales with a gift for hosting the competition.

The 2010 Canadian Livestock Auctioneering Championship was considered a huge success with a very talented field of competitors, strong cattle prices and a large  crown of buyers and spectators in attendance.

Brian Nilsson addresses the LMAC Membership

Nilsson Brothers. Inc. is a very influential part of the Canadian cattle industry , with  major investments in the Canadian marketing, feeding and processing business . LMAC was
honoured to have one of the co-owners, Brian Nilsson, address the Membership on Saturday
morning. Here are some highlights:

Brian gave a very inspiring and insightful  presentation on the state of the industry from his very broad personal  perspective. Brian is very bullish on the market and believes that we have worked through many hurdles, which will move the industry  into a cycle of record-high prices. He further stated that it is his belief that live finished cattle will reach 1.20/lb in the next couple of years, moving us into a period wherein Canadian producers will be profitable.

Relative to short term predictions, Brian believes that yearlings will remain where they are now and finished cattle will stay strong all summer, with the calf market having a strong undertone this fall. He shared a truism  with the audience,( or as he referred to it “ a rule” )
When things get bad…SELL !!!
He talked briefly about age verification and traceability: while he does not disagree with age verification, the difference it makes on price is very small and it is not an economic driver. Brian told the audience  that he does not believe that traceability is a food safety issue, and that the government should ‘come clean’ on what their agenda is. He stated that we need to seriously slow down: how can the government impose a system on an industry that cannot and will not achieve the desired results ?. Furthermore, he believes that the government’s true agenda is to track all the cattle as a ‘passport system’ Brian was asked to comment on his view of electronic action systems: he replied by starting that electronic auction systems are not incompatible with live auction markets. Currently electronic Auction systems sell only  15% of the volume. They may reach 25%,  but they will not become a replacement for the live system.

He closed by stating: “there is no more efficient way of selling a group of cattle, sorted and presented, than the auction market system”.

LMAC wished to thank Brian Nilsson for his positive and informative insight into the future of the Canadian Livestock business.