MEDIA ADVISORY
2014 World Livestock Auctioneer Champion to sell at Eastern Missouri Commission Co.

Blaine Lotz, the 2014 World Livestock Auctioneer Champion, will be visiting Eastern Missouri Commission Co. (16367 Business Hwy 61, Bowling Green, MO 63334) for the January 23 sale. Lotz will be on the auction block, selling cattle and showing off the chant that made him a world champion auctioneer.

Lotz will sell during the special weaned calf and yearling sale on Friday, January 23. It begins at 12:30 p.m. CST.

Lotz defeated 30 other contestants to win the World Livestock Auctioneer Championship (WLAC), last June in Knoxville, Iowa. The WLAC was created and is conducted by the LMA, a national trade association for progressive livestock marketing businesses. During his year as champion, Lotz is traveling across the U.S., appearing at LMA member markets and industry events.

Local livestock markets across the country work hard to bring in multiple buyers to bid competitively on sale day, providing true price discovery of the value of all types of livestock, maximizing the return to the seller. In turn, they provide buyers a centralized location with a ready supply of livestock in the offering.

For more information or to arrange interviews, contact Lindsay Graber at lgraber@lmaweb.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 hasn’t. 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.