Latest / CattleUSA Daily / 109: World Champion David Macedo Talks Auctioneering Legacy and Industry Change

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109: World Champion David Macedo Talks Auctioneering Legacy and Industry Change · CattleUSA Daily

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Hey y'all, welcome to another episode of the Cattle USA Daily
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Podcast. Today we are bringing you again
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another King of the Ring contestant guest on to the
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podcast. We are welcoming David Macedo on
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to the podcast today. David is not only a world
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champion auctioneer, but he is just a light within the industry
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and someone who throughout his entire career has not only from
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a market standpoint provided a lot to the industry, but from a
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national standpoint point, whether it be his role
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throughout politics or just as an auction house owner.
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So we are so excited to welcome David onto the podcast to share
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more about his story. And we discussed some amazing
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things within his own story, but then also things with an AG in
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general today as well. David and I bring the energy to
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this podcast, so I'm so excited to share more on this
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conversation with you guys and give you a glimpse into David's
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story. So without further ado, let's go
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ahead and jump into this episode.
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Welcome to the Cattle USA Daily podcast, your go to source for
1:07
the latest livestock markets, industry insights and the update
1:10
shaping agriculture today. I'm your host, Lauren Moylan, a
1:14
passionate advocate for agriculture here to keep you
1:16
informed and connected. Now let's dive into today's
1:20
episode. David, welcome to the podcast.
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We are so excited to welcome another one of our King of the
1:29
Ring contestants on to the podcast to just discuss their
1:32
story and life and everything else that that may entail.
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So I would love it if you could just take it away from my
1:38
blabbering mouth and share more about your story, who you are,
1:42
all the things. Absolutely.
1:44
And and thank you for having me on.
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And I had, as we had talked or mentioned before, I have a
1:49
strange story as to how I have a livestock market.
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I actually grew up on a dairy. My father had a dairy.
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My mom's father had a livestock market since 1939, which still
1:59
exists. And he had all girls and I, I'm
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the only boy with the four sisters.
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So in a Portuguese family, when the male dies, the only male
2:09
heir really gets the market. So that's kind of how I wound up
2:12
with the market. I always people, I was nine
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years old, so obviously I couldn't keep it at the time.
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So my father bought it. It actually technically bought
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it. And then when I was 19 I bought
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it half of it back. Actually, he kept half and saved
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my life really, because had he gave it all to me, I don't know
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that I would I would have found the success I was able to find
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through having to struggle and make payments right.
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Easy come, easy go is what they say.
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Well, he wasn't going to let that happen.
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And so I've been running a barn since I was 19 years old.
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This year is is kind of a cool thing for me.
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I have my first four generations of family members that I've done
2:52
business with. So finally the the great
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grandson is running a dairy now and sending me cattle.
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And so it's a kind of a cool thing to say for generations.
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I've been doing this for 46 years.
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I've owned this market and my grant, like I said, my
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grandfather started in 1939. So it's an exciting thing for
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me. It's an exciting thing for my
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family. My wife is my partner and she is
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a big part of our show. We are a family run operation.
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We are 8 employees that sells 100,000 cattle a year.
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So not many barns can say that, but we are also a different type
3:27
of livestock market in that we sell four days a week on the
3:30
same facility and it's because we're in the dairy country and
3:34
animals are available to us daily.
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That is such a unique experience and just a unique story being
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able to say that, you know, you got handed down a livestock
3:44
auction at nine years old and then going up until you were 19
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of what that journey looked like of, hey, your story was kind of
3:52
written out for you pretty young.
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Can you share a little bit more about that of just kind of
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knowing your path from a very young age and how that's kind of
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led you as an adult? Well, quite honestly, it really
4:02
wasn't, I wasn't sure that was going to be my path in high
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school. I thought I was going to be a
4:06
dentist. I, I thought, you know, I don't
4:08
know that I want the AG part, the dairy, the farming or the
4:11
livestock market for that matter.
4:13
And I thought I wanted to be a dentist, but I always said, God
4:17
kept calling me, you know, with the auction side of this.
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And I thought, man, this, this is kind of fun.
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And you know, I can do a little bit of selling and, and I
4:24
enjoyed it, but you know, still I, I, you know, I've got to go
4:27
be a dentist. I've that's, that was kind of
4:29
going to be my calling. And God kept pulling me by the
4:31
shirt, pulling me by the shirt to get me where he needed me to
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be. And obviously he knew where I
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needed to be better than I did. And, and thank God, thank him
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for the path he put me on. Because if you really knew me,
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Lauren, I'm doing what I was meant to do.
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There's no doubt about it. And so thank you to everything I
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do. I try to honor not only my
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grandfather that had the livestock market, but my
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grandfather that had the dairy and my father, right.
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I want to bring honor to them. They're long gone.
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And but they gave me such opportunity to succeed in this
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world. And so those are my true
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mentors. And you know, we got we were
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fortunate enough to hold the world contest at my market in
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2019. And I've always said nobody
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really knows who the little dairy market is out in
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California, but they do. Now.
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That's a tribute to my grandfathers and my SO.
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They couldn't be there in person, but I'm sure they were
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there in spirit. Absolutely.
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I love that and I love hearing about how different family
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members impacted our lives because I think I had the a very
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similar story of I was growing up and I was in high school and
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I was like, I'm not going to be an AG piece out.
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I was actually going to go into a medical field as well.
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I was like, but then same situation.
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God kept on calling me back, calling me back.
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I had to take a few wrong turns on the way, but being back here
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is I, yeah, I totally understand where you're coming from with
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that of you are doing what you were called to do.
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And that is such a powerful testimony and a powerful story
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to the passion that you have behind your life and your
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business and everything else. Can you share more about your
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career and just your passion behind it?
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Well. First of all, I want to thank
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all you young people that come back to agriculture because we
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need you. You're going to feed the world
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in the future. I'm from the Central Valley of
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California. We are the bread basket of the
6:19
world. I mean, we grow more food here
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than any place on the planet. And if young people don't
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continue to be involved here, we're in big trouble.
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So thank you for coming back and thank God for giving you the
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courage to do that because it takes a lot of courage to do
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agriculture in today's world, right?
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We're not as popular as we once were, but I think that'll change
6:40
at some point. But for my story and the things
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that my ability to auctioneer and communicate and brought me,
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you know that I have a lot of things I've accomplished in
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life. When I was elected, did for 20
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years. I was a City Councilman and
6:54
mayor here in Tulare for 20 years.
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And now my daughter has taken up the torch.
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And she is actually our state assembly person in California,
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which if you're a Republican in California and you can get
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elected to a seat, that's a pretty big deal.
7:08
But when I talk about young people carrying the torch for
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agriculture, she's 1. And I feel really proud of that
7:14
because we all own livestock markets and our job is to get
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out there and save the industry. We are part of the industry, but
7:23
we've got to keep our customers in business.
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We've got to keep our buyers in business.
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I mean, we are in a very vulnerable spot that we need to
7:31
be the one that's the glue for the whole industry, right?
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We're the ones that go between the buyer and the seller.
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And how we continue to do that, I think is very important.
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So my political skills have helped me do that.
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My daughter's done that. I was the president of the
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Livestock Marketers Marketing Association from 2010 to 12, but
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I was on the board for over 20 years and I was their head of
7:55
government and industry affairs from 2012 all the way to 2022,
8:00
when I decided it was time for me to get out of the way and put
8:03
some young people in those seats.
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And that's exactly what they did.
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And those are the things we need to keep doing when we talk about
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industry movement, I don't really like to talk about myself
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a lot because I think it's a bigger picture than me that, you
8:16
know, the world doesn't revolve around me.
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But one of the some of the reasons I got into this contest,
8:21
the king of the ring, if we want to go that way, is and it's
8:24
going to be a great story. So in 1996 was my first contest
8:28
I'd ever entered. And I didn't think I belong
8:30
there, quite honestly, right. I I'm out from California, I was
8:33
selling my little dairy market and nobody had a clue who David
8:38
Macedo Artillery Sales Yard was. And I wound up doing pretty well
8:44
in my very first contest. And when I got on the bus from
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after the finals, a gentleman sat next to me and he struck up
8:51
conversation. He goes, you know, I thought you
8:53
did a pretty good job in there today.
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He goes, you might even have won this thing.
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And he goes, but I own some markets in the Midwest.
9:00
What would it take for me to get you to come from California to
9:03
the Midwest and sell my markets? And I said, well, Sir, I I own
9:06
my own market in California, so it's probably not going to
9:10
happen. But thank you for the offering.
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We had a nice conversation. Well, that gentleman, gentleman
9:14
was Ray Winter. And so one of the reasons that
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I'm going is to honor him today because he, I, I wound up second
9:23
in that contest in my first one. And so, but he gave me
9:27
confidence that, hey, maybe I am good enough to be with these
9:30
guys and maybe there is a journey set for me.
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And, and it kind of kept me involved.
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And then, you know, a few years later, I missed a final and Joe
9:38
Frazier, who is the auctioneer that called me to join the
9:41
contest, he came to my room and he said, you know, don't let the
9:45
contest break your heart. He goes, you got to just kind of
9:48
take it for what it is. And I thought, well, you know,
9:50
there's another, you know, shot from somebody that that's
9:53
involved today and I need to be there.
9:55
And then the biggest one is Johnny Rogers is being honored.
9:58
And I don't know if you followed that, but he's getting Hall of
10:00
Fame. Well, if Johnny Rogers was
10:02
sitting next to you, he would tell you that his very first job
10:06
in the industry was for my grandfather at Tillary Sales
10:09
Yard. And so, you know, I, there's a
10:13
lot of connections for me this year to get in.
10:15
I haven't competed in 19 years and I didn't ever see myself
10:20
competing again, to be honest with you.
10:22
I, I thought, well, you know, I've done what I need to do.
10:25
And, and, you know, quite obviously I learned going to
10:29
watch Johnny Rogers sell and Skinner Hardy, who are both
10:32
masters in my mind, both world champions 66 and 86.
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And I, that's how I learned. I, you know, when I wasn't in
10:40
school, I would drive down on Mondays to watch Skinner.
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And on Wednesdays I'd go watch Johnny.
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And you know, that's how you built the chant in my day.
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Well, you've got young guys now that have access to an Internet
10:52
that I've had 12 to 14 year old kids come in and say, hey, I've
10:54
been practicing, can I sell a few cows?
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And you know, you think, oh, well, I'm going to let them sell
11:00
a few cows, but this isn't going to go well.
11:02
Well, that's not the case anymore.
11:03
These kids are spitting out some pretty good chants that are at
11:06
really young age and it's pretty impressive.
11:08
And you've got a couple of those that'll be in the contest.
11:11
I mean that Jace Thompson and Barrett Simon, I mean they're
11:14
young guys, but boy, they've got a heck of a champ put together.
11:18
They're doing a heck of a job and you know, it's impressive.
11:20
And guys like me, we're on on the other side of that, right?
11:23
I'm, I'm going to be the old man there.
11:24
Me and me and Justin Dotson are going to be oh, man.
11:26
In fact, I was hoping they had a senior seniors event, but I
11:30
guess that's not going to happen.
11:32
Me and Justin are just going to have to gut it out.
11:34
Can you share a little bit more about the concept of handing the
11:38
torch over? You discussed that a little bit
11:40
both in the auction business and like, hey, you're on the block
11:44
and you're letting 14 year olds come up and do their chance and
11:48
sell a couple cows every once in a while.
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But then also in your previous careers that LMA and everything
11:53
like that of the concept of handing the torch over.
11:56
Well, I think that's the most important thing we do, right?
11:58
If we don't turn it over, why we're still active in it and
12:02
kind of keep that institutional knowledge.
12:04
And I don't care if it's at the livestock market or LMA.
12:08
You have to have the institutional knowledge, but you
12:10
need the youthful energy, right? And it works so well.
12:13
LMA replaced me with Gut App on government and industry affairs
12:17
with Brody Peak, who's from Kansas.
12:19
Grand Slam young guy, does a heck of a job.
12:23
And then on my board seat, they gave it to Kyle Shobe out of
12:26
Montana, another young guy, amazing representation there for
12:30
our industry. They've still got their energy.
12:32
They're they're bright guys and it's awesome.
12:35
It's awesome to see. That'd be like trading in
12:38
baseball, getting two really good players for one old guy
12:41
who's ready to retire. I mean, it's a win win for
12:44
everybody. And in that case they hit a home
12:46
run. And I was really proud to see
12:48
that. I would love to see my daughter
12:50
eventually come back to the market, but right now all her
12:53
focus is on politics, which is again for me an awesome thing,
12:58
right. She is fighting for AG full
13:00
strength in California. She's even took in a a little
13:03
bit of a beating from the Democrats for fighting so hard
13:06
for water. But that's what she got elected
13:08
to do. You know, it's just amazing to
13:10
watch those the things, the fruit that you try to put in
13:13
place grow and ripen and and do what it's supposed to do, which
13:17
is feed the soul. And you know, hopefully all
13:19
these young people, including yourself, can go to your peer
13:22
groups because your peer groups are starting actually to listen
13:25
to you instead of those that oppose us that and don't have
13:29
the science to back it. And that's how we're going to
13:32
overcome. You know, I always said the only
13:34
way people would really understand what AG people do is
13:37
to get hungry. But we really don't want to let
13:39
the world get to that. We.
13:40
Really don't. That's that's such a powerful
13:42
message too, because I think it's important as
13:45
agriculturalists, we look at our industry and see where we can
13:48
hand the torch over and where you can say I have done what I
13:51
can here. It is time for me to pass on my
13:54
knowledge, pass on my experience to someone who can bring a
13:57
different point, bring a different energy, bring a
14:00
different just viewpoint on the industry and see what they can
14:04
do. And it takes a lot of courage to
14:06
be able to do that. But I see that in you and I see
14:09
that drive in you to you're building something that you want
14:12
to hand down and that you want to hand over to that next
14:16
generation and not just something for yourself and for
14:19
your family. You're, you're building
14:21
something for the industry. And that is truly just such a
14:23
powerful message. Well, my grandfather always said
14:27
leave it better than when you found found it.
14:29
And I don't look at that as Tulare sales yard.
14:32
I look at that as my industry, right.
14:34
And so and I think that's a message for everybody.
14:37
If we left it better than when we found it, it just keeps
14:39
getting better, right. And how do you improve that in
14:42
your world today? And I think that's one of the
14:44
things that when when we look at the Winter family and we look at
14:47
Johnny Rogers, Richard Stover and Ellington Peak being honored
14:52
this weekend, they went to the technology side of marketing to
14:55
improve how we sold and to at had a added value as to what we
15:00
do. There's always going to be a
15:02
place for the fixed facility, but they've added a whole nuance
15:06
to how we market cattle and look what it's done for the marketing
15:09
for and the choices that we have to market.
15:12
Well, it took young minds and people who were willing to take
15:15
risks. And I will tell you, Johnny was
15:18
probably fairly young when he started this Ellington, my whole
15:21
life, Ellington's been old to me, but he's still hanging in
15:23
there and that's awesome. But anyway, to see that and, and
15:27
watch what they're doing Cattle USA what they're what they're
15:30
doing that this industry is just getting better and better and
15:34
we're able to connect with more people nationwide at a moment's
15:38
notice. I, you know, I said this one
15:40
time years ago that went in 1980 at the auction market.
15:45
There were 500 people there at every sale, cars everywhere you
15:49
could. And because we were the
15:51
information superhighway, if you want to know what animals were
15:54
worth, you went to the fixed facility.
15:56
There was no Internet. There was.
15:58
So people came and watched the sale.
16:01
I have people that literally send me 3000 cows a year that
16:06
have never been in my market. I mean, what's the odds that
16:09
that would have never happened, you know, 30 years ago, 40 years
16:13
ago, but now it's the norm. I, I would probably say 20 to
16:17
30% of my customers have never stepped in my market and that,
16:21
that just, it isn't the rule of thumb many, many years ago.
16:24
Yeah, it's crazy how the industry has changed so much of
16:28
I remember even when I was growing up, it was the exact
16:31
same way. My dad would come pick me up
16:32
from school on Fridays early because hey, we got to we got to
16:35
take cows to the sale barn and I'm not going to be home when
16:38
you get off the school bus so you're coming with.
16:40
And I never complained because I got pie at the diner every time
16:44
we went. So I was never going to complain
16:47
about a skipping school and getting pie and writing in the
16:50
pickup and getting to pick all the CDs that we played.
16:52
Absolutely. Sign me up.
16:54
And it's just it's crazy how it's changed The the industry
16:57
has changed. The industry has evolved.
16:59
And some people say that it's, you know, we're losing the charm
17:03
of it. And in some ways, yeah, I guess
17:05
you could say that. But in other ways, like because
17:07
we have the technology that we have, we're able to continue to
17:10
grow as an industry. And if we're not able to
17:13
continue to grow, like if you're not growing, you're dying.
17:15
And so I would much rather see our industry growing, even if
17:17
it's extremely uncomfortable. Can you chat a little bit about
17:20
that? Like just the uncomfortability
17:22
of industries changing. You've, you've been around the
17:25
block a time or two and you've seen a lot of change in your
17:27
career. Well.
17:28
I. I look at it more as AG has
17:30
always been ever changing because when the consumer asked
17:34
for something, we try to figure out how to provide them with
17:37
that service, right, whether it be melt vegetables, meat,
17:41
whatever that product is that the consumers is saying, Well,
17:44
we'd sure like to have it this way.
17:46
We we're kind of that what's a farm to table thing, right?
17:50
We want to know how it's done. So we've done that.
17:52
We've changed, right? Even our facilities, you know,
17:55
as times went on, you know, we've made better and better cow
17:58
comfort facilities and everything we do is to appease,
18:02
you know, what the consumer wants.
18:03
And, and maybe that's what we're supposed to be doing, but those
18:06
input costs keep getting higher and higher for all of us that
18:09
are in production AG, right? I farmed 500 acres of almonds
18:13
And you know, it used to be a little easier to do that, but it
18:16
takes a lot of input costs. If you're a Cal calf guy this
18:20
year, you're having a great year, but you know, how many
18:22
years do they barely make it by? Do they barely pay the tax on
18:25
their ground because their input costs have gotten higher and
18:28
higher? And if you can't get something
18:30
on the other side, I mean, how long do people stay in?
18:34
And so how do we make it fit for the consumer and profitable for
18:38
the producer? It's, it's always been a
18:40
balancing act. I had a dairyman tell me one
18:43
time I'll, I'll sell my milk for $15 a hundred way if I can
18:48
produce it for 12. But they can't do that anymore,
18:51
right? And, and I think that the cow
18:52
calf guy, the stalker guy, the feed lot guy, the fat cattle
18:56
guy, they would all sell you the same thing.
18:59
I don't care what I sell my product for as long as my inputs
19:02
give me some profit. And, and how do we get to that?
19:05
Because that's probably been the biggest thing for somebody, even
19:09
at your age to watch what it cost to actually produce an
19:13
animal. And, and I, I watched the sale
19:16
the other day. Look what these bread cows are
19:18
bringing. It's just a ridiculous.
19:20
So you're starting out with quite a bit of money invested.
19:25
I mean, it's, it's a scary thing.
19:27
And how, how, how long do we have this run of, you know,
19:30
three and four dollar cattle and $2.00 butcher cows?
19:33
And, and we just don't know out here in California, for those of
19:37
you that don't know, they are putting beef on dairy.
19:40
So they're putting an Angus bowl on these Holstein cows.
19:44
You know what they're the, the speed lots are contracted out
19:47
here. The day that calf hits the
19:49
ground, I'm talking it's wet, it gets colostrum, it gets picked
19:52
up and it goes to the calf ranch.
19:54
They were getting $1300 for that cap that day.
19:58
That's a ridiculous. I mean, who would have ever
20:00
thought we would see that? But that's what's going on.
20:03
How do we keep that pace? You know that that that $1300
20:08
beef on dairy calf is going to be fed in a feed lot it's entire
20:12
life. It's not going to be turned out.
20:14
I mean, it's, it's a remarkable thing, something I thought I
20:16
would never see for sure. How do we keep that pace up?
20:19
And feed right now is cheap enough.
20:21
So obviously there's, there's some profit there for these
20:25
folks that are doing that. But boy, any glitch in the feed
20:28
market or whatever, I I don't know how you do it.
20:30
Yeah, that's, that's the golden question, right?
20:33
That's the question everybody's asking of when is that glitch
20:36
going to happen or how do we continue to be sustainable at
20:39
this rate that we do have things that it's, it's crazy to go sit
20:43
in a sale sale yard right now and see what we were talking
20:46
about it before we even started, See what cold cows even are
20:48
bringing right now and see what red heifers are bringing and all
20:52
of those things that it's, it's a wild time out there.
20:55
But nonetheless, we've, like you said also before we started, the
20:59
market goes through ebbs and flows.
21:00
We see these cycles. This isn't anything new.
21:03
This is just part of the cattle cycle.
21:04
And we're just in one of those years where we're all sitting
21:07
here scratching our heads asking how, why, But you know, we're,
21:11
we're going to take it and we're going to be happy about it while
21:13
we can. Absolutely the industry needed
21:17
this to. Happen the the family farm and
21:21
the family feeders. Those guys needed this to
21:23
happen. I don't know how many more years
21:25
they could have taken. They really needed it.
21:28
No, they absolutely did. You are 100% correct in that and
21:32
no one can argue you there that for a lot of years, my family
21:35
owns a cow calf operation and for a lot of years it was rough
21:38
taking cows to the sale barn, whether they were a coal cow or
21:41
whether they were like a calf that was ready to go to a feed
21:45
lot. It was it was rough for a few
21:47
years there. So everyone definitely needed it
21:49
in the beginning parts of this industry and it's we're, we're
21:53
just hanging by our coattails and seeing how far we can take
21:55
it at this point and see how the industry is going to continue to
21:58
evolve as we start to round out this podcast.
22:00
I, I'd love to hear what's next for you, What's what's in store
22:04
for you and your family as you look into the future, continue
22:08
down the road. You were saying how you've got 4
22:10
generations a part of your market now.
22:12
That's, that's really impressive.
22:14
What's, what's next? What are what's kind of down the
22:16
road? I really couldn't tell you.
22:18
You know, I always thought my daughter would come back.
22:20
My son works in Beverly Hills. He wears a suit to work.
22:23
He, he never really wanted part of the agriculture from day one,
22:27
which is fine. They've got to be happy.
22:29
And I always tell people, you know, if you live in California,
22:32
it's hard to tell your son to do AG with all the restrictions and
22:36
the regulations that they have on us out here.
22:39
And I, you know, AG was good for me for like I said, I'm in my
22:43
46th year of doing business. It's been a good business for
22:46
me. I can't tell my son that for the
22:49
next 46 years it would be the same.
22:51
So when he chose, you know, entertainment as his way to make
22:55
a living, I couldn't hardly tell him that.
22:57
Don't go do that, son. You have to stay home.
22:59
And he's been successful at what he does and, and he's happy.
23:02
And that's the most important thing.
23:04
I don't know where this livestock market goes, you know,
23:07
at this point. And I didn't mention this
23:08
Michael Imbrogno's in the contest and he works for me.
23:12
So he, he shows up here two to three days a week because I
23:15
don't really want to sell four days a week anymore.
23:19
I'd rather just kind of run the market.
23:21
And you know, I, I mentioned my wife earlier, she's, she's an
23:24
amazing person and I'm going to tell you why because she runs
23:27
the, the office. But she also, you know, we call
23:30
her the spare tire here. If we need to consign her that
23:33
day or we need a Pinner, she does it all.
23:35
And my wife is 5 foot two, £110. That's what you have to picture.
23:40
And it's nothing to see her on the skid steer moving dirt or
23:44
doing whatever needs to be done when it needs to be done.
23:47
And so when I say we're a family operation, we truly are.
23:51
And you know, it's her and I right now and, and we're getting
23:54
tired. She's, she's in her late 50s.
23:56
And I, you know, like I said, I'm in my 60s And you know, how,
24:00
how much more do we want to do this?
24:01
But it's awful fun right now, but it's I think I'm going to
24:05
run it out. You know, I keep telling her
24:07
five more years and I told her that when I was 59 and I'll be
24:09
64 here shortly. And then so she asked me what,
24:13
what do you think? And I go, I think I got five
24:15
more years. And of course, you know, selling
24:17
cold cows for what we're selling them for.
24:19
And you know, that's the bulk of my business.
24:21
And for those people listening that really don't understand,
24:25
you know, when I say we sell 100,000 cattle in Tulare County,
24:28
there's a half a million cows, mother cows, they're all black
24:31
and white or Jersey and they're all confined.
24:33
But that's the bulk of our business.
24:35
We'll sell 70 to 80,000 cold cows a year.
24:38
That's the bulk. You know, I tell people you'd
24:41
never believe I can have 2000 cattle in a week and not sell
24:45
one male animal. They're all females sometimes.
24:48
Now that's not always true, but sometimes we'll sell 2000 all
24:52
females. And so because all the males go
24:54
directly to the calf ranch, they're contracted right off the
24:57
dairy. So we just don't see many,
24:58
there's not many bold bred herds anymore.
25:01
They use, they're all using AI and so we just don't see them
25:05
sometimes. We're definitely a different
25:06
type of a niche market than some of the markets.
25:09
I'm looking so forward. I love going.
25:11
I love the smell of the sail barns in the Midwest with the
25:15
grass cow. I just love that smell of cattle
25:17
running underneath me and excited to sell for the winter
25:20
family and have those big strings coming up underneath me.
25:23
And, and just that the activity underneath you and the energy
25:26
that the room brings when you have that right.
25:29
I I always tell people I am a high energy, high pressure
25:32
salesman. That's what I have done for 45
25:35
years, right? I am going to come in there and
25:37
I'm going to grab you and we're going to sell hard.
25:39
And I'm not going to be the prettiest sounding auctioneer in
25:41
the room and I'm not going to be maybe probably not even the best
25:45
auctioneer in the room for sure, but I'm going to be the hardest
25:47
Trier. And I kind of used that in my
25:50
entire life, whether I was playing sports or what, I was
25:52
never the best guy on the team, but you weren't going to out try
25:54
me, right? And that's what I'm going to do
25:56
for the winter family. And and I think Mark knows that
25:59
and I think you know, Joe and I've sold together.
26:01
Joe used he goes, do you keep that pace up all day?
26:03
And I'd say, yeah, Joe, I really do.
26:05
And and so, but at my age, I don't think I can.
26:09
So we'll see how it goes for us. We're going to have fun with it.
26:11
More than anything else, the experience of being back there
26:14
with those guys is what it's really all about in the
26:17
friendships that you build and the bonds.
26:19
And I think that's why most people go.
26:22
You know, when I won the world, that was kind of funny.
26:24
That was in 2006. And when I got home, my
26:27
father's, you know, he first of all, he thought you want a truck
26:32
and we're Chevy people and I want to dodge, right?
26:34
That was, it's a truck. So he got on that.
26:36
And you know, about an hour later he goes, so now what?
26:40
You know, so now what does this mean, right?
26:42
You won the world, So what what changes for you now?
26:44
And I got that right. I still had to come home and run
26:47
a business and do what I do and feed my family.
26:49
And I don't, I, I would think 20 years later like it is now,
26:53
that's probably who it matters to the most is my wife and
26:56
children. And that's OK.
26:57
That's beautiful. As we round out, is there
27:00
anything else that you would like to say or leave with our
27:02
audience today? Well, I'm just really proud to
27:05
be competing again against. Some of the guys are in that
27:08
contest. You know, Justin Dodson competed
27:11
with me. He's just one of the true
27:13
gentlemen in the industry. Brian Curless.
27:16
You know, they're just awesome guys, Neil.
27:18
And I know I'll probably miss somebody, but there there's just
27:21
some awesome human beings that are going to be there and it's
27:25
just going to be a lot of fun for me to be a part of that.
27:27
And of course, Rodger Immig is one of the reasons I think they
27:31
do this. And then 1994 at the
27:33
international, Rodger and I became friends and he's really
27:36
one of the guys that encouraged me to, Hey, you need to try to
27:38
go to the world. You know, you've got the ability
27:40
to do that. And of course, I think Brian
27:42
Little's family and and Brian was third the year I won and
27:46
what a flying gentleman. And they never got the, you
27:49
know, Brian never got the chance, but he really had the
27:52
the chant and the personality and you know, so you got to
27:56
honor guys like that, that you were around and, and just know
28:00
that, you know, it had have it not been for health.
28:04
We're not guaranteed our health that whether we're 20 or 80,
28:06
right? And and so he never got that
28:08
opportunity. So like to you know, give a
28:11
tribute to him a little bit as well.
28:14
And I mentioned Ray Winter, you know, I'm pretty sure I'm going
28:16
to sit in those seats and I'm going to say, Ray, it's been 30
28:19
years since you got on that bus and I'm going to sell your
28:22
market today. I hope I don't let you down.
28:24
That's. Beautiful.
28:25
David, thank you so much for your time today.
28:27
We so appreciate you and just your knowledge that you're
28:30
bringing not only to the auction market, but to the industry as a
28:34
whole. And the passion that you have
28:36
had over your career to the industry is it is electric and
28:40
it is setting my soul on fire. And so I appreciate that as a
28:44
young individual in the industry, having having that
28:47
energy from you and just being able to sit here and absorb
28:50
everything that you said today, it was truly an honor.
28:53
So thank you so much for your time and we look forward to
28:57
seeing you in Dodge City here in a couple weeks to compete at
29:00
King of the Ring and to honor the Winter Family and everyone
29:04
else that is going to be there. So David, thank you so much for
29:07
your time as always. And to all of you listeners out
29:09
there, we will see you all next time I'm on another episode of
29:13
the Cattle USA Daily Podcast. Make sure you like subscribe
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notified every time an episode gets released.
29:21
Have a good one, you will see you later.