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1/16/2010

LIVESTOCK MARKETEERS CELEBRATE 45 YEARS


The Livestock Marketeers inducted two members of their informal fraternity — Bruce Brooks and Gary Kendall — into the Hall of Fame during the National Western Stock Show in Denver, CO. They’re shown with the friends who “roasted” them (left to right): Willard Wolf, Valleyford, WA; C.D. ‘Butch’ Booker, Colfax, WA; Gary Kendall, Potlatch, ID; Bruce Brooks, Marietta, OK; Don Cagwin, Virginia, IL; Ken Holloway, Chattanooga, OK; Doug Paul, Oklahoma City, OK; and Neil Orth, Kansas City, MO.


    The names of three livestock professionals were added to the Livestock Marketeers Hall of Fame wall at the National Western Stock Show Club on Jan. 16.

    The Livestock Marketeers — an informal fraternity of livestock fieldmen, auctioneers, sale managers and related livestock business leaders — met for their 45th Annual Banquet in conjunction with the National Western Stock Show in Denver, CO. The event is hosted by American Live Stock, Geneva, IL.

    Master of ceremonies J. Neil Orth, executive vice president of the American-International Charolais Association and a 1984 Hall of Fame inductee, introduced the 2010 honorees: Bruce Brooks of Marietta, OK, and Gary Kendall of Potlatch, ID. The late A.J. Smith of Lone Wolf, OK, was added to the special posthumous plaque provided by Crow Publications of Denver in 2009.

    The Livestock Marketeers group was started in 1965 by Harry Green, Ross Miller and Claud Willett. Their purpose was to form a fraternal organization of livestock professionals, and to make annual awards in order to stimulate younger members of the industry to succeed in their chosen profession.

    Nearly 100 Marketeers were in attendance for 2010, a new record for the group.


BRUCE BROOKS

    Auctioneer Bruce Brooks was Iowa-born and raised, but headed south to attend Oklahoma State University. He was a member of the OSU livestock judging teams of 1969 and 1970, as well as Block & Bridle and the Alpha Gamma Rho fraternity. C.D. “Pete” Swaffar and Ted Aegerter of the American Shorthorn Association hired him after graduation, and Brooks travelled the southwestern states for ASA. He later worked the same territory for the Drovers Journal in 1972-1974, working for J. Neil Orth. In the fall of 1974, Brooks joined Ken Holloway at American Cattle Services, specializing in purebred Limousin marketing.

    In 1975, Brooks began auctioneering purebred cattle sales and has continued in that field ever since, working predominantly Limousin and Shorthorn events. In 2004, he started including real estate sales on his schedule when he joined Williams & Williams Auction Co., Tulsa, OK.

    Married to Kathy Jane O’Brien since 1977, Brooks has a son, Lance, and two daughters, Kristy and Amy. They also have four grandchildren. The family was actively involved in showing and selling steers and heifers, primarily Limousin, through the 1980’s and 1990’s. A Brooks family highlight includes winning Grand Champion Limousin Heifer honors twice at the National Western Stock Show’s junior contest: Amy in 1994 and Kristy in 1995. They currently specialize in running a stocker-feeder operation in southern Oklahoma.

    A member of both the North American Limousin Foundation and the American Shorthorn Association, Brooks is a past president and vice president of the Oklahoma Limousin Breeders Association. In 1998, Bruce and Kathy received the OLBA’s Lifetime Achievement Award, primarily in recognition of their work with junior programs. He’s a member of the Saddle & Sirloin Club in Oklahoma City to help promote 4-H and FFA, and also serves on the Love County Soil Conservation board.

    “I’ve always been a great believer in the auction business,” Brooks said after being roasted by Doug Paul of The Stock Exchange, Ken Holloway of American Cattle Services, and Don Cagwin of Cagwin Cattle Services.  “I learned from Don and Ken to take care of business . . . I appreciate very much the opportunity to sell for these folks and being part of your team.”


GARY KENDALL

    After graduating with a degree in ag economics from the University of Idaho in 1959, Gary Kendall returned to farm in Potlatch, ID, and established a registered Angus herd that bred and produced the 1981 National Western Grand Champion Female and the 1983 National Junior Angus Show Grand Champion Female.

    Kendall’s marketing career may have started at home, but in 1981 he accepted the position of manager of the Spokane National Stockshow in Spokane, WA. This developed into a sale management business when the Cowman’s Classic All Breed Bull Sale was started in 1985. He added another industry-leading event to his resume in 1987, when he began managing the Nugget Hereford Show and Sale in Reno, NV.

    By 1991, Kendall was managing an impressive string of consignment and production sales throughout the western United States, including the Western National National Angus Futurity in Reno.

    The key to his success, according to C.D. “Butch” Booker, Colfax, WA, is that “Gary has always believed in taking your best to a sale.” Kendall’s appreciation of quality livestock and the good people who raise them have made him a favorite in the Pacific Northwest beef industry. He was also roasted by 2007 Hall of Fame inductee Willard Wolf, Valleyford, WA.

    The Western Livestock Reporter — now the Western Ag Reporter — offered their Northwestern field representative position to Kendall in 1993, a position he held until his retirement in 2010.

    “I appreciate all the people here tonight,” Kendall said during the Livestock Marketeers banquet in Denver. “And all of the people who brought me here.”

    He and his fiancee, Linda Hartford, continue to enjoy their involvement in the seedstock industry. Gary has two sons, Rod and Dale Kendall, and a daughter, Leanne Collier, as well as seven grandchildren.


A.J. SMITH

    For 24 years, A.J. Smith was editor of the Oklahoma Cowman, official magazine of the Oklahoma Cattlemen’s Association. During his tenure, he developed the Cowman into a nationally recognized livestock publication. He wrote 294 editorials and countless feature stories, took thousands of pictures, planned numerous ranch tours, and traveled the state providing ring service at purebred and commercial cattle sales. In addition, he trained and mentored countless livestock marketeers over the years.

    Smith passed away moments after the OCA’s 57th Annual Convention and Trade Show in Midwest City on July 25, 2009, serving as the face of the Cowman to the end. He left behind his wife of 39 years, Debra; son Aaron and daughters Christel and Jessi; and seven grandchildren.

    He grew up on the family farm north of Lone Wolf, and was active in the Future Farmers of America. Smith graduated from Oklahoma State University in 1963. Following his tour in the Air National Guard, he returned to the farm and was married to Debra Pollard in 1970. In partnership with his father, Alva, he ran a herd of registered Polled Hereford cows, and in 1983 he accepted the position of Harmon County 4-H agent. Over the years, he also worked for Better Beef Business, Gulf Coast Cattleman, Weekly Livestock Reporter, and the Oklahoma Cooperative Extension Service before being named editor of Oklahoma Cowman in 1985.

    Smith was recognized with numerous honors and awards for his efforts and contributions to the nation’s cattle industry, including the OSU Animal Science Recognition Award, Beefmaster Appreciation Award, OSU Animal Science Graduate of Distinction Award, Oklahoma Hereford Association Heritage Award, Oklahoma Youth Expo Show Honoree Award and Honorary Cattlewoman of the Year Award. He was also inducted into the Oklahoma Angus Hall of Fame, and served as president of the Southwest American Livestock Foundation.

    “A.J. took a lot of pride in those of us he was mentoring,” said Matt Sims of MCS Auction, LLC, who presented the Livestock Marketeers’ tribute to Smith along with his father, Smith’s college roommate Eddie Sims of National Cattle Services, Inc.. “He was always optimistic. Bless his heart, I don’t think he thought anyone would ever stop bidding!”

    For more information on the Livestock Marketeers, visit www.livestockmarketeers.com.

 

1/29/2009

LIVESTOCK MARKETEERS HALL OF FAME INCREASES BY SIX


The Livestock Marketeers inducted two honorees — C.K. “Sonny” Booth and Chuck Grove — into their Hall of Fame during the National Western Stock Show in Denver, CO. They’re shown with the friends who roasted them (left to right): Jim Shirley, St. Joseph, MO; Matt Caldwell, Parker, KS; Dave Mullins, White Post, VA; Chuck Grove, Forest, VA; Sonny Booth, Miami, OK; Andy Rest, Shepherd, MT; Mark Smith, Ankeny, IA; Doug Paul, Oklahoma City, OK; and Neil Orth, Kansas City, MO.


The Livestock Marketeers — an informal fraternity of livestock fieldmen, auctioneers, sale managers and related livestock business leaders — met for their 44th Annual Banquet in conjunction with the National Western Stock Show in Denver, CO, on Jan. 17.

2009 honorees included auctioneer C.K. “Sonny” Booth, Miami, OK, and American Angus Association regional manager Chuck Grove, Forest, VA. They were “roasted” by their friends and colleagues at this event, hosted by American Live Stock, Geneva, IL. Master of ceremonies was J. Neil Orth, executive vice president of the American-International Charolais Association.

Four posthumous honorees were also added to the Hall of Fame display that hangs in the National Western Club, on a special plaque provided by Crow Publications, Denver, CO. They are Bobby Baker, Don Eiten, Terry Jaschke and Lee McCoy.

The Livestock Marketeers group was started in 1965 by Harry Green, Ross Miller and Claud Willett. Their purpose was to form a fraternal organization of livestock professionals, and to make annual awards in order to stimulate younger members of the industry to succeed in their chosen profession.


SONNY BOOTH

“Sonny Booth has been good for the business,” said Mark Smith of Grassroots Genetics & Consulting, who opened the roasting of the Oklahoma auctioneer. “He’s always positive, never negative, and his incredible sense of fairness is amazing.”

A native of Miami, OK, C.K. “Sonny” Booth attended Oklahoma State University and was a member of the livestock judging team, as well as the Block and Bridle club and Alpha Gamma Rho fraternity. The OSU team won the National Western Stock Show competition in 1964, with Sonny claiming High Individual honors.

He’s been an auctioneer for nearly 40 years, working with all breeds of cattle and horses. Sonny has served as auctioneer for more than 4,000 livestock sales, and travels 200 days a year selling purebred livestock. For the past several years, he’s also been affiliated with Williams & Williams Auction Co., Tulsa, OK, specializing in premier farm and ranch properties.

Sonny is a member of the Oklahoma Cattlemen’s Association, the National Auctioneers Association, and the North American Limousin Foundation (NALF). He is a past president of NALF (1993), and was honored in 1997 by the Oklahoma Limousin Breeders Association with its Lifetime Achievement Award.

“His trademark is his chant, his diction, and he has a really great eye for cattle, too,” noted Andy Rest of the American Angus Association.

“Sonny’s one of the great ones,” agreed Doug Paul of The Stock Exchange. “There’s no greater thing than a friend, and Sonny Booth is our friend.”

The Booth family includes his wife, Mary, and three daughters: Kym, Kelli and Rachel.


CHUCK GROVE

For the past 34 years, Chuck Grove of Forest, VA, has served the American Angus Association as a regional manager, representing the Angus breed in Kentucky, Ohio and Tennessee, and previously, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia and West Virginia.

Chuck works closely with the Association and Angus Publications, Inc., publisher of the Angus Journal and Angus Beef Bulletin, to assist purebred and commercial breeders in selling and obtaining quality seedstock, advertising and promoting their programs, and works as a liason promoting programs and services provided by the Association and its entities. Chuck also managed the National Western Angus Bull Sale, the only Association-sponsored sale, for 23 years.

“He is truly the undisputed dean of the fieldmen,” said Matt Caldwell of the American Angus Association. “We applaud your professionalism and your friendship.”

Chuck’s involvement in the Angus business goes back to his youth, as he was raised on his family’s registered Angus farm. As an active 4-H and FFA member, Chuck represented Virginia on the 4-H livestock judging team and at the National 4-H Club Congress in Chicago, and served as a director of the Virginia Junior Angus Association (VJAA). At Virginia Tech, Chuck was an active member of the Alpha Gamma Rho fraternity and Block & Bridle club. He was employed as a student beef cattle herdsman for Virginia Tech’s beef farm, and fit numerous champions for the University. Chuck was a member of the winning Virginia Tech livestock judging team.

Shortly after graduating from college in 1974, Chuck married Ruth. Together they raised two children, Jake and Rachel, who were also active in the VJAA.

“I am very honored and humbled,” said Chuck, who recognized his own mentor, Dale Runnion, during his acceptance of the Hall of Fame honor. “I appreciate this award very much.”


BOBBY BAKER

Bobby Baker was born in 1928 to Raymond and Hazel Baker. He graduated from the University of Tennessee in 1950, where he was a member of the Ag Club and Pi Kappa Phi fraternity, and roomed with former United States Senator Howard Baker, Jr.

Bobby served in the Panama Canal zone as a member of the United States Army.

His livestock advertising sales career began with the Livestock Weekly in Memphis, TN, in the early 1950s.

He joined the staff of The Drovers Journal in January 1971, where he was a top livestock advertising salesman — “a salesman deluxe,” as noted by Neil Orth — until he left in 1987.

Bobby died in November 2002, leaving two daughters, Nita and Lee, and a son, Robert.


DON EITEN

“Born a cattleman at heart” and following in the footsteps of his father, Lyle Eiten (1993), Don Eiten’s induction to the Hall of Fame makes them only the second father-son honorees of the Livestock Marketeers, along with Ray (1966) and Robert (1986) Schnell.

Don grew up in Ladd, IL, where his father had Angus cows, and learned the business of caring for and raising cattle from an early age. He showed steers in 4-H and was on the judging team in college. His first job after graduating from Western Illinois University was assisting in managing cattle sales with Rishel Livestock Service.

Ultimately, Don was able to follow in the footsteps of his father, Lyle Eiten, and became an advertising salesman/ringman for the ABC Farm Progress Company/Prairie Farmer Magazine. At that time, he returned to Illinois and settled in Peru, just a few miles from his childhood home, but traveling all over the greater Midwest for the Prairie Farmer. He truly loved meeting and working with people of the livestock industry. Don also started Eiten Sale Service, a small auction company, conducting sales of real estate, estate property and livestock.

Unfortunately, Don’s time here was far too short. He was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in 2003. When he became too ill to work, he commented that he wished he could just go to one more sale. He passed away in April 2004, leaving behind his parents, Lyle and Ellen; brothers Gary and Nicholas; wife Karen; two daughters, Megan and Kimberly; and his son, Andy. The marker for Don’s grave bears symbols related to his two great passions — the St. Louis Cardinals emblem, and a black Angus cow.


TERRY JASCHKE

A perfectionist who set high standards in the beef industry, Terry Jaschke was raised in Guthrie County, Iowa. A 1972 graduate of South Dakota State University, Terry received a degree in agriculture and a minor in journalism, and embarked on his career as a fieldman with Drovers Journal. In 1975, he accepted a position as the Iowa State Fair livestock manager, where he established the Avenue of Breeds. He returned to Drovers Journal in 1977. Throughout the 1980s, Terry continued his work in the field of ag journalism, serving as a field representative for The Limousin Journal and The Salers Stockman; in 1985, Terry began his “dream job” as a fieldman for the Wallaces Farmer/Missouri Ruralist.

An active 10-year member of Guthrie County 4-H, Terry received numerous awards and served as an Adair County 4-H leader for 8 years. In 2006, he was inducted into the Iowa 4-H Hall of Fame.

Terry’s life tragically ended when he suffered a brain aneurysm while working a cattle sale in Springfield, MO, in April 1993. His wife, Cathy, currently lives in Ankeny, IA. His oldest son, BJ, and his wife, Amy, reside in Polk City with their two children, Lauren and Lincoln. His youngest son, Mitch, lives in Des Moines, IA, and has twin sons, Kaleb and Cole.


LEE McCOY

Lee McCoy, born in 1947, grew up in Duncan, OK. His father, H.A. McCoy, was one of the investors instrumental in importing Limousin cattle into the United States and had a prominent Limousin herd in Miami, OK.

After graduating from Kansas State University and the Texas Christian University Ranch Management Program, he entered the U.S. Navy as a torpedo man in 1966.

Lee began his career as a livestock marketeer in 1972 with the Kansas Livestock Association, working as a fieldman for the Kansas Stockman magazine. When he left in 1976, he worked for various other papers, including Better Beef Business, Kansas Farmer, and his last stop, Missouri Beef Cattleman, in 1987.

In 1989, Lee entered the ag broadcasting field as assistant farm director for the Texas News Network. He continued to build an impressive broadcasting resume with various radio stations. He was voted Ag Communicator of the Year for Alabama, and Farm Broadcaster of the Year for the southern region of the National Association of Farm Broadcasters. In 2008, Lee returned to his passion for livestock sales for a short period as a sales representative for EDJE Technologies.

Lee lost his battle with cancer in May 2008.

 

5/13/2010

SIMS TO RECEIVE SADDLE AND SIRLOIN HONOR


    At a March meeting, the Kentucky State Fair Board — upon recommendation of the Saddle and Sirloin Committee — approved Col. Ray Sims of Raymore, MO, as the recipient of the Saddle and Sirloin Portrait Award. It is the highest honor bestowed upon influential leaders of the livestock industry as awarded by their peers.

    The Saddle and Sirloin Portrait Collection is rich in history and tradition. Founded in 1903, it is unequalled as a collection of oil paintings honoring outstanding leaders in the livestock world over the past three centuries. Today, many of the 340-plus portraits are displayed in the West Hall of the Kentucky Fair and Exposition Center (KFEC).

    The auction method of marketing livestock has become the most popular approach for selling and buying livestock during the past 50 years. Col. Sims was at the forefront of this movement. His auction career spanned 46 years. He traveled throughout the United States, selling for both large- and small-scale livestock breeders as well as senators and three U.S. Presidents. He estimates that he worked more than 7,000 auctions.

    It is the gallery’s tradition to honor one recipient each year in November during the North American International Livestock Exposition (NAILE). It has been almost 60 years since an auctioneer has received this honor.

    Col. Sims has received many honors throughout his career, including induction into the National Auctioneers Association Hall of Fame in 1990. In 1989, the American Angus Association inducted him into the Angus Heritage Foundation. He was named to the Livestock Marketeers Hall of Fame in 1980.

    This year’s portrait presentation will be Sunday, November 14, at the Kentucky State Fair and Exposition Center in Louisville, KY. Anyone wanting more information about this award presentation can contact John Barton at 816/942-0418 or Darrel Overholt at 405/372-5497.

3/23/2010

MARKETEERS TO MEET JANUARY 15, 2011


    The next Livestock Marketeers Banquet is scheduled for Saturday evening, January 15, 2011, in the National Western Club in Denver, CO.

    For more information, contact Kim Wolfe at livestockmarketeers@me.com or 303/237-4532.