The 10th annual Heartland Bank Young Auctioneers’ Competition was held at Canterbury Park this week. Of the eight contestants vying for the championship, four were representing PGG Wrightson including Matt Holmes (Canterbury/West Coast), Ben Wright (Manawatū), Russell Moloney (Otago), and Brook Cushion (Waikato).

The competition consisted of an interview with the three judges on Monday afternoon and auctioning three lots on Tuesday morning, as part of the All Stock Excluding Store Cattle sale. The winner took home $2,000 and the opportunity to represent the country and take on the Aussies at the Sydney Royal Easter Show in April 2022.

The judges were impressed with the strong line up and high calibre of all the auctioneers who proudly represented their respective companies. Joe Higgins, PGW Regional Livestock Manager, who was one of the three judges said “Auctions are a critical element of our livestock business. It’s great to see such talented young auctioneers coming through the industry and I’m particularly proud of the solid participation from PGW. It takes a variety of skills to be a successful auctioneer and all the participants in the competition have a bright future in the industry.”

PGW secured a quinella with Ben finishing first in the contest, while Brook was runner up.  Both Matt and Russell also did a fantastic job and featured strongly.

Ben, PGW Livestock Representative, was delighted with his result. “I’m in the saleyards twice a week but I was a little bit nervous at the start of the competition as I’m used to selling in dollars per head rather than cents per kilo, but once I got going, I was all right. The competition was an awesome experience and I’m looking forward to going to Australia next year and giving it a crack. It will be a great opportunity to meet people and see the Sydney show,” said Ben.