Registration for World Livestock Auctioneer Championship qualifiers open

Livestock auctioneers interested in earning the World Livestock Auctioneer Champion title may now enter to compete in a World Livestock Auctioneer Championship (WLAC) qualifying event. The 2016 WLAC will be hosted by Paris Stockyards in Paris, Kentucky during the Livestock Marketing Association (LMA) Annual Convention June 15-19.

Together with LMA-member markets, the LMA will produce three WLAC qualifying events across the United States. Auctioneers who would like to compete in the WLAC competition must qualify by placing in the top 10 at one qualifying event and by meeting all contestant qualification requirements.

The following LMA-member markets will host a WLAC qualifying event:

• Western Regional Qualifying Event: St. Onge Livestock in St. Onge, S.D. on October 16, 2015. Registration closes September 25, 2015.
• Eastern Regional Qualifying Event: Franklin Co. Livestock in Carnesville, Ga. on November 10, 2015. Registration closes October 20, 2015.
• Midwestern Regional Qualifying Event: Keoco Auction Company in Sigourney, Iowa on January 11, 2016. Registration closes December 21, 2015.

To qualify for competition at any stage of the WLAC, each entrant must complete an official WLAC entry form, be at least 18 years of age, auctioneer livestock at least once per month at a regularly scheduled livestock auction and be in good financial standing with all LMA members. Each contestant must be sponsored by at least one regularly selling livestock auction willing to vouch for his/her status as a livestock auctioneer. LMA membership is not required of sponsors.

For a full listing of WLAC rules and procedures and to enter a qualifying event, please see LMAweb.com.

The general public is welcome to attend the live auctioneering competition free of charge. Each WLAC qualifying event will be broadcast live on LMAAuctions.com.

About the World Livestock Auctioneer Championship
In June 1963, the Livestock Marketing Association held the first annual World Livestock Auctioneer Championship (WLAC) at the Cosmopolitan Hotel in Denver, Colorado. The purpose: to spotlight North America’s top livestock auctioneers and to salute their traditionally important role in the competitive livestock marketing process. That year, 23 auctioneers from the United States and Canada sold the same 20 head of cattle over and over again.

The contest was held at hotels until 1967, when it traveled to its first LMA member market. Since then the WLAC has been held in conjunction with the LMA Marketing Industry Convention at member markets around the U.S. and Canada. Recent locations include California, Missouri, Montana, Tennessee, Kansas, South Dakota and Alberta, Canada.

Though the rules have changed, the enthusiasm for the competition has not. On average each year, nearly 100 auctioneers enter the qualifying events and only 31 (10 from each qualifying event, one from the auctioneering competition at Calgary Stampede) are selected to compete in the WLAC. The championship consists of three stages: the regional qualifying events held at different markets around the country, followed by the semi-finals and the finals that are held each June in conjunction with the LMA Annual Convention. Contestants competing for the World Champion title must be 18 years old, employed as a livestock auctioneer and sponsored by a local auction market that shares in the favorable publicity generated by the winners.

LMA is proud to sponsor an event that brings together North America’s top livestock auctioneers in a competition that showcases professionalism and promotes the auction method of selling livestock.