Livestock-selling young gun stands tall

BACK TO BACK: Ben Gregory and Nathan McCarthy at the Naracoorte Regional Livestock Exchange.

By Leon Georgiou

ELDERS Mount Gambier’s Ben Gregory claimed Ben Gregory the South Australian Young Auctioneer title at the Naracoorte Regional Livestock Exchange last week.

It is the second straight year Mr Gregory has won the competition and the seventh consecutive year an Elders employee has taken the award – which is run by the Australian Livestock & Property Agents’ Association.

Mr Gregory said while he always wanted to be a livestock agent, auctioneering was something that he came to appreciate later on in his career as the opportunity presented itself.

“Auctioneering is something that I learnt to enjoy, the more I did it and became better at it,” he said.

“After probably a good two years of auctioneering and going to auctioneering schools, I probably realised that, yeah, I was okay at it.”

While some of the attributes of a good auctioneer can be learnt – such as knowledge of the market and developing strong relationships with suppliers – Mr Gregory said there were certain innate qualities to help distinguish an auctioneer hopeful from a good auctioneer.

“You have got to have the attributes of a good auctioneer, which would be a clarity of voice, good diction, adding up and counting, a good pattern and rhythm,” he said.

With seven consecutive wins, Elders seems to be doing something right.

“Yeah, I’d say the Elders culture for training people is one of the best in Australia. The opportunities that you are given just leads to being surrounded by some of the best in the industry,” Mr Gregory said.

Other finalists selected to compete in the South Australian Young Auctioneer competition included Nathan McCarthy (Elders Lucindale), Jack Guy (Nutrien Ag Solutions Bordertown) and Jordy Heinrich (Nutrien Ag Solutions Kingscote).