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Dean Edge wins Livestock Auctioneer Championship Midwestern Regional Qualifying Event

Semi-finals coming in June
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Dean Edge was named Champion at the 2020 World Livestock Auctioneer Championship (WLAC) Midwestern Regional Qualifying Event on Jan. 8 in Yankton, South Dakota. Photo from Livestock Marketing Association’s Facebook page

When Dean Edge was in Rimbey high school he was introduced to livestock auctioneering through a high school instructor who would auctioneer during class time.

The instructor’s impromptu auctioneering skills twigged Edge’s interest and the young man decided to pursue auctioneering as a career. Following high school he attended the auctioneering school at Western College of Auctioneering in Montana. After graduation he began working as an auctioneer at the Vold, Jones & Vold Auction in his home town of Rimbey.

Edge’s career of choice has proved to be a successful one for the Rimbey native.

Last week Edge was named Champion at the 2020 World Livestock Auctioneer Championship (WLAC) Midwestern Regional Qualifying Event held at Stocken’s Livestock Inc, Yankton, South Dakota. A total of 31 contestants competed in the qualifier, each hoping to place in the top ten which would guarantee them a spot in the semi-finals.

Winning the qualifier was exciting and certainly a confidence booster for the local auctioneer who will compete in June in the 2020 WLC semi-finals at Dickson Regional Livestock Center, Inc. in Dickson, Tennessee near Nashville.

“I was confident I would be near the top, but now I can go into June knowing that I can place at the top,” Edge said, admitting that competition will be high.

Edge has competed on and off since 2002. In 2018 he placed in the top 10, and last year the Rimbey auctioneer was reserve (champion).

During the contest, competitive auctioneers take part in a live cattle sale with bidding going on. Auctioneers are judged on the clarity and quality of their auction chant; auctioneer presentation; their ability to catch bids and conduct the sale and also the likelihood of the judge hiring them.

Judges are made up of livestock market owners, managers, dealers and/or allied industry members from across the United States.

Edge admits to being competitive by nature and loves the thrill of the competition, but he also sees the competition as a vehicle to becoming a better auctioneer and livestock marketer and, at the end of the day, providing a better service to his producers.

And as much as winning the 2020 title would be a well deserved honour and one that he would be proud to claim, he feels he is rewarded every time a customer thanks him for working so hard for them.

“You feel you are the one getting the cheque. It keeps me going.”

Edge was sponsored by Vold, Jones & Vold Auction Co. LTD, Rimbey, Alberta