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For Immediate Release

December 4, 2008

Justin Dodson, winner of LMA’s last qualifying contest for ’09 WLAC wants to inspire young people to stay in livestock industry; Odle, Hertzog round out top 3 winners

KINGSVILLE, MO. – Champion livestock auctioneer Justin Dodson hopes there are more young people in his future like 10-year-old Ben. Ben introduced himself to Dodson after Dodson won LMA’s fourth and last quarterfinal qualifying contest for next summer’s World Livestock Auctioneer Championship (WLAC). The contest was held here Dec. 2 at the Kingsville Livestock Auction. Ben “told me his name and said he was ten,” Dodson said.  “He said I was his favorite auctioneer, and he wants to be one.

Left to right: Jim Hertzog, Ted Odle, Justin Dodson

“If I can inspire young people to stay in the livestock industry, by telling them how good it’s been to me, and help them out, that will be very rewarding,” he said.

Dodson, 39, is from Welch, Okla. He was sponsored by Parsons Livestock Market, Inc., Edna, Kan., and Tulsa Stockyards, Inc., Tulsa, Okla.

The reserve champion, in a field of 13 contestants, was Ted Odle, Brush, Colo.  Jim Hertzog, Greenwood, Mo., was the runner-up champion.

The three winners, and the next five highest scorers, move on to the June 13 WLAC at Fergus Falls Livestock Auction Market, Inc., Fergus Falls, Minn.

Those five were, in alphabetical order, Ted Baum, O’Neill, Neb.; Nick Caspers, Hecla, S.D.; Jake Cheechov, Eugene, Ore.; Andrew McDowell, Vandalia, Ill., and Duane Rus, Rock Valley, Iowa.

This was Dodson’s 10th time in the WLAC, where he was runner-up world champion in 2005.  He’s finished among the top 10 finalists six times.

Dodson, who’s been an auctioneer for 17 years, could meet many aspiring auctioneers if he wins the June WLAC. The champion spends much of his championship year on the road for LMA, appearing at markets and other events.

He was aware the contest here was his last chance to qualify for June WLAC, “but I felt comfortable today.  I knew I’d done all I could do. You’ve got to be relaxed, and keep thinking of how you sell back home.”

Odle, 45, heads into the June contest as the reigning reserve world champion, a title he won last June in Worthing, S.D. “I’ve been a top 10 finalist several times, but that was my first time” being named one of the top 3 titlists. He’s been in the contest “about 15 times.”

Winning the world title “would be the crowning event” of being in the profession, Odle said, “and a good opportunity to promote the livestock auction method. It’s the only way to get true price discovery.”

Odle attended the Missouri Auction School when he was 16, on a scholarship won by, and given to him, by 1978 World Champion Chuck Cumberlin. Cumberlin and Odle’s father, Jim, worked together for many years.

In fact, Ted Odle has worked with several world champions, including Cumberlin, 1974’s Ralph Wade, 1990’s Kenneth Wilcox and 1975’s Ron Ball.  “I’ve had some good teachers,” Odle said.  He was sponsored by Brush Livestock of Colorado.

The contest here was a homecoming of sorts for Hertzog, who got his start in livestock auctioneering about 20 years ago at the Kingsville market.  An auctioneer for 26 years, Hertzog is the co-owner of his sponsor, Mo-Kan Livestock Market, Inc., Butler, Mo.

The first-time contestant said there was “some awfully good competition, but that helped me.  I love pressure.” He was “somewhat surprised” at being named runner-up champion, “but I was confident. My goal was to be in the top three, and I achieved that.”

Hertzog, 47, paused a moment when asked what being named world champion in June would mean to him. “It would be overwhelming, the ultimate achievement, to be representing my industry across the country.”

Ty Thompson, Billings, Mont., won LMA’s first quarterfinal qualifying contest, Sept. 9 in Miles City, Mont. The second qualifying contest, Oct. 29 in Texhoma, Okla., was won by Lynn Langvardt, Wakefield, Kan. Brian Little, Wann., Okla., won the third qualifier, in Zanesville, Ohio, Nov. 18.

A cash award and a custom-made belt buckle are presented to the winner in each quarterfinal competition. The reserve and runner-up champions in each contest also receive custom belt buckles.

The eight qualifiers from each quarterfinal contest, along with the reigning International Auctioneer Champion – Peter Raffan, Armstrong, B.C. – make up the field for next summer’s WLAC, the 46th annual.

LMA conducts the WLAC and the qualifying contests to put the focus on competitive livestock marketing, and the continuing vital role of the auctioneer in that process.