Nine finalists to chase Victorian Young Auctioneers crown on Feb 7

Fingers crossed, that is.

Nine Victorians will go head-to-head in the state final of the competition on February 7 at the Victorian Livestock Exchange, Pakenham.

It was meant to happen last year but was postponed because of the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.

ALPA chief executive Peter Baldwin said it was "all systems go" for a competition restart.

Contestants from Pakenham and Leongatha in the south-east of the state to Warrnambool on the south-west coast and up to Hamilton in central Victoria will advance to the VLE after graduating from the auctioneers school in 2021.

They are Ryan Bajada, Ned Balharrie, Jacob Brennan, Alister Bright, Ryan Carpenter, Josh Chiavaroli, Harry Cozens, Jack Ginnane and Josh McDonald.

Mr Baldwin said the ALPA community was backing the finalists to enjoy and learn from their finals experience.

"We had a fantastic auctioneers school held in Echuca," Mr Baldwin said.

"We would ordinarily go to Pakenham and do the course but COVID regulations and lockdowns in Greater Melbourne prevented that from happening and precipitated the move to a country saleyard.

"It was very well attended and we had a real mix with male and female participants and that yielded nine young auctioneers who will attend the final at VLE at Pakenham all going well."

Mr Baldwin said the highlight of the event would be a number of new faces, along with some seasoned auctioneers who have sold livestock for sometime.

"Then there are others like young Ned Balharrie, who has actually sold at a NSW Young Auctioneers Competition at Dubbo and he now takes his place for his firm at Ballarat," he said.

"We know this will be a milestone in their career and what a chance it offers.

"It's like travelling from the country to play at the MCG.

"We want them to be enriched by the experience and we know their skills will be expanded and their network is going to grow."

Whoever claims the Victorian title and the runners-up prizes will be in fine company.

Both will advance to the national final to be held in Sydney at the Royal Easter Show and in the past, Big V talent has flowed freely.

Some past national winners to emerge from Victoria include Adam Mountjoy who won in 2006, alongside 2009 winner Dean Coxon, 2010 Anthony Delaney, 2014 Shelby Howard and 2015 Nick Gray.

"IT is what I love to do and as they say you'll never work a day in your life if you love doing what you're doing," Ryan Bajada, Elders Rural Services, Bairnsdale, says.

By his own admission Mr Bajada, 23, marvels at how fortunate he is to be in the industry and in the employ of the Elders group.

"I have been with Elders for just over two years," he said.

"I got offered the job. I was working at Rodwells as a livestock agent for a couple of years. I did not see the offer coming and I am very grateful for it."

The Young Auctioneers Competition is familiar territory for Mr Bajada, who thinks it will be his fourth opportunity.

"It will be good and I think I learned a little from each (previous appearance) that I could use to my advantage this time," he said.

"It's a different ball game I suppose when you are selling in that environment. It's a high pressure thing with a lot more eyes on you and it is a learning curve every time you do it.

"I am not going to say I will win but I will put my best foot forward and hope to make myself and the company proud.

"The company has been extremely supportive every step of the way in my job and their guidance has been incredible and they have given me plenty of opportunities on the rail and Elders and the people around me deserve my thanks."

The holder of a Certificate III in Agriculture, Mr Bajada said he takes pride in doing his utmost for clients.

"The job is to get the best result for our clients at the end of the day," he said.

"Getting over a line of cattle is good fun and selling them is good. But getting out and meeting the client is what I enjoy the most."

COMPETITION experience on the other side of the Murray might hold 22-year-old Ned Balharrie in good stead.

In 2020 Mr Balharrie was part of the Nutrien Livestock Solutions team at Wagga Wagga, NSW, and contested the NSW version of the YAC.

Nowadays, he's with Nutrien at Ballarat, in the same role once occupied by his late dad whose passing prompted a return to Victoria.

"When I went through a previous competition I was in NSW and I got a lot out of it," he said.

"I didn't win or anything like that but I made it into the top 10 and that was good.

"It was a great learning experience and it was different in that it was diverted to Dubbo rather than being in Sydney where it's traditionally held.

He said it was exciting and challenging to get out of his comfort zone.

"I moved back to Victoria in September of 2020," he said.

"My father was a stock and station agent with Nutrien in Ballarat and he passed away a little while back.

"I came back down to take over his position and was proud and really honoured to be able to do that and I've been here since then and have no plans to go elsewhere."

In many respects Mr Balharrie was cut for the job from the get go.

His grandfather Max Balharrie was a stock agent and with his son Bruce, Ned's dad, he opened the family-run Max and Bruce Balharrie Pty Ltd in Ballarat, which became immensely popular.

When grandfather Max retired, Bruce went to Landmark, which became Nutrien, and the baton was passed to Ned.

A FRIENDSHIP forged in the show ring led a career-minded Jacob Brennan to the Tatura office of Mulcahy Nelson Livestock, and his uncanny ability will lead him to a third tilt at the Young Auctioneers Competition this summer.

"My first time was when I was 19," the now 22-year-old said.

"I am really happy to be part of it and we will see how it goes. It is a good experience and a way to get my name out there and I will be trying my best."

He says he "definitely learned" from his previous YAC quests and attendance at the auctioneering schools were also advantageous.

"I have learned that knowing values is very important and clarity of voice and being able to control the sale is all part of it," he said.

"For me it started at school when I got involved with the show cattle team and stuff like that and my grandparents were farmers (sheep and Herefords) at Finley in southern NSW."

He said from there, he really enjoyed the industry and aspired to become and agent.

"My boss (Sam Nelson) taught me a sort of old-fashioned approach in dealing with clients by offering to go out and help with their stock. I am good mates with Sam's son, who I got to know through the show cattle and then through him I go to know his dad," he said.

"Sam offered me a job and I jumped at it. Now I sell fat cattle and occasionally at the sheep sale weekly at Shepparton."

He finds building a network with buyers and other clientele "very rewarding", admitting it can be hard at the outset.

"Once people get to trust in you and see that you are always striving to get the best result, things move along," he said.

ALISTER Bright, Nutrien Ag Solutions Ararat, might have less selling experience than others contesting the Victorian final of the Young Auctioneers Competition.

But he's unruffled and eager for the contest to begin.

"This is going to be a good experience for me," the 21-year-old Mr Bright said.

"I haven't done much auctioneering but I went to the auctioneering school and must have gone okay because I got into the state final and that's been a real bonus."

Mr Bright, who enjoys a game of footy or helping out with odd jobs on the farm when he's not working, is happy he fulfilled an early promise to himself.

"My dad has been a stock agent for 20-odd years and being a stock agent like him is something I always wanted to do and something I sort of promised myself from very early on," he said.

"Dad has been helping me.

"I have watched him over the five or six years I have been in the game and I'm trying to learn all the time."

He has been a member of Nutrien's Ararat team for the best part of a year after his dad and other contacts advocated for him.

"I worked at the saleyards and other stuff during the school holidays when I was 15 or 16," he said.

"I went to all the sales and that helped me make some connections as well."

Seeking the best possible result for clients is one of the aspects of the stock and agency sector he finds particularly satisfying, saying "really that's what it's all about".

AT 20, Ryan Carpenter, Nutrien Ag Solutions Ballarat, is the youngest of the finalists seeking to win the Victorian leg of the Young Auctioneers Competition.

But he's far from daunted by the task.

More to the point, Mr Carpenter is excited by the prospect of testing himself alongside his peers.

He is also pretty chuffed with the job he has.

"I have been with Nutrien for more than 12 months now," he said.

"I worked on a station (in 2020) the year before I started here and the manager I was with heard about a traineeship and spoke to me about it and here I am."

He said his manager really encouraged him to "give it ago", and admitted it never feels like he's at work.

"This is a business and a career path I have always wanted to follow since I started out in this side of the (livestock and agricultural) industry, so you could say it's my dream job," he said.

Mr Carpenter, who was raised on a Limousin stud near Oberon in NSW and is an unabashed fan of the St George Illawarra Dragons in the NRL, finds work "incredibly enjoyable".

"Getting to see the sheep and cattle that you draft up earlier in the week on sale day and the satisfaction in achieving a good result for the client is great," he said.

"Working in a team environment and being able to process sometimes over 12,000 lambs a week makes it so rewarding," he offered.

"It's always different and I like working with and for people."

Mr Carpenter takes inspiration from a family friend, who is an auctioneer, and remembers the lessons offered at the auctioneers school.

"The speech pathologists at the school taught each of us about good breathing techniques and other things to do like drinking water at certain times during the day, posture and practicing (selling) on the rail," he said.

"They were all valuable lessons designed to make us better auctioneers and I will be following their advice for certain and I will give this my best shot."

IF you can pardon the pun, Josh Chiavaroli, Elders Rural Services Korumburra, has nailed his dream career.

A carpenter by training, the 23-year-old Mr Chiavaroli always had a hankering for livestock and agency work.

It was an industry he dearly wanted to sink his teeth into and for the past 30 months or so he has been living the dream, literally speaking.

"This is something I always wanted to do," he explained, adding he sealed the deal with a little help from social media.

"I was enjoying work and desperately wanted to finish my apprenticeship and I did.

"Then one day I was on social media and I saw this opportunity come up on Facebook among all the other posts I was looking at and it took my attention straight away.

"I got in contact with Rowan McCrae, the branch manager at Korumburra, and just approached him personally and asked about the possibility of a job."

His parents have a hobby farm but a relative ran a larger operation where he happily worked with lines of Hereford, Black Baldies and Angus cattle.

"I enjoy working with animals and people and I really enjoy going around to the farms," he said.

"My boss got me into the Young Auctioneers competition.

"He said I should have a crack at it and it doesn't matter whether I sink or swim, it's just another feather in the cap. I was very surprised to make the final but when I got through I took that as great reward and a payback to my boss and his faith in me."

He hopes to obtain a chattels licence and AuctionsPlus accreditation.

COMFORTABLE is the best way Harry Cozens, Elders Rural Services Barnawartha North, describes his demeanour ahead of the Victorian leg of the ALPA Young Auctioneers Competition.

"I am feeling more at ease with my selling," the 21-year-old said.

"As with most things the longer you do something the more comfortable you feel doing it and being able to sell in different environments and different areas has been great to further my development.

"Absolutely, I feel more comfortable in the job and heading to the competition than a year ago."

Mr Cozens said he was looking forward to a second YAC opportunity, believing he learned from an earlier outing.

"One of the biggest things I got out of the last competition was dealing with selling in front of a different buying gallery," he explained.

"Selling in a new environment to what I usually do and the aspect of it being a competition and not having ever sold like that before, was different.

"Then at the Young Auctioneers school at Echuca the speech pathologist and the auctioneers there gave me a few things to work on so when I am given an opportunity to sell before the final I'll keep that advice in the back of my mind and keep moving forward."

Mr Cozens sells regularly at store sales and the back end of sheep and fat cattle markets and loves the business.

"It's exciting dealing with people's livelihoods and helping them reap rewards. I gain a lot of satisfaction out of achieving the best possible results," he said.

WINNING form is the best form but Jack Ginnane, Nutrien Leongatha SGL Leongatha, isn't getting ahead of himself.

A year ago Mr Ginnane, 24, proved to be a cut above the others when he won the same Young Auctioneers Competition and advanced to the national final in Sydney.

He said those were "fabulous experiences" but does not mean it will make his attempt at back-to-back titles any easier.

"It should be good fun and be good to go around again and be involved," he said.

"The (auctioneers) school was good and I am really looking forward to it. Before last year I had only been doing the auctioneering for a couple of months and I was fortunate enough to win and go onto Sydney for the nationals and get a bit more experience there.

"I didn't go so well up there (in Sydney) but Victoria won as a team.

"With another year of selling under my belt I am ready to go again."

Mr Ginnane holds AuctionsPlus accreditation and hopes to complete the requirements for his Real Estate licence by the end of the year.

He intends to continue with weekly selling duties of selling with the added experience and advice from his peers to polish his performance.

On the business side of things, he admits the better returns to producers has added to his appreciation of the job.

"I like the business as much as ever," he said. "With the way cattle prices are going there are positive attitudes everywhere."

WHEN quizzed to identify what he may have learned from past experience in the Young Auctioneers Competition, Josh McDonald answered without hesitation.

"Confidence is a big thing," Mr McDonald, Nutrien Ag Solutions Warrnambool, said.

"Probably knowing your values would be helpful and having a relationship with the buyer is another big one."

The 22-year-old Mr McDonald is a past winner of the Victorian leg of the competition and he advanced to the nationals, as is always the case for the winner and runner-up.

"I did no good in the nationals but it was a good experience and I will be giving it my best when I get to the (state) final."

Mr McDonald has previously confessed to being self critical of his selling style and continues to mark himself hard, looking for any mistakes and striving to do better.

He's been with Nutrien - and its predecessor - in Warrnambool for six years.

He once worked in the yards on a part-time basis and asked for a permanent job when he completed his secondary schooling.

"I enjoy it," he said of the job, which takes him to different places and allows him to meet different folk.

"Every day I am dealing with different people and dealing with livestock and it doesn't get much better.

"You are never doing the same thing on any day. This has been a good fit for me."

He sells each week at Warrnambool and Mortlake.