I may have found a new hobby: auctions.
It’s not that I have the money to actually participate, but just being there must be the best entertainment value on the planet.
I hadn’t been to an auction for years, and the Angus sale at Canadian Western Agribition in Regina last week made me wonder why.
I was sitting on the main floor with Western Producerreporters Karen Briere and Barbara Duckworth, watching the beautiful, sleek Angus animals paraded out one, two and even five at a time.
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The main auctioneer’s patter was going a mile a minute, while the four on the floor were so much fun to watch. They are so animated, while the bidders in the crowd, by contrast, are so cool, announcing their bids with a waggle of a finger.
The highlight was definitely the young bull that caused major interest in the crowd.
Fifty-eight, the auctioneer cried part way through the bidding. Do I hear 62? I have 62… I have 65… do I hear 67?
Sold, for $67,000.
Thousand? Did he misspeak? Most of the animals at auction were selling for between $3,500 and $10,000. But nope, that young bull sold for 67 grand for a half interest.
I was amazed, but for confirmation I turned to the experts, to find Karen and Barb looking at each other with their eyebrows raised. They know their livestock, and I could tell by their faces that this was a big deal sale. Karen tweeted the news immediately. There’s the reporting of today – insta-news.
The best part of this experience was learning on the ground from theProducer’s journalists, who know what they are seeing and hearing and how to report on it. (See Barb’s story on the breeders in this edition.)
Anyway, I think I’m hooked. That auction was just way too much fun.
It turned out to be a great day at Agribition and afterward.
That evening I attended the premier’s Agribition reception in the rotunda at the legislature, populated by a who’s who collection of important folks in government and agriculture.
The festivities included honouring long-time Agribition sponsors, and we were honoured to receive a plaque that night, in return for 35 years of being at Agribition. I think that makes the WP the longest-serving exhibitor in Agribition history. We’re talking deep roots in this agricultural community.
