Latest / CattleUSA Daily / 317: Years of Chicken Sales Built a First Generation World Champion Auctioneer with Chuck Bradley
Transcript
- 0:00Today we have the honor of welcoming Chuck Bradley on to
- 0:03the podcast. Chuck is a world champion
- 0:05auctioneer and is one of our other contestants for the King
- 0:09of the Ring contest coming up on May 10th, just this coming
- 0:15weekend. Chuck comes on today to share
- 0:17you with you guys. His story of how he went from
- 0:21not being a auctioneer in the making when he was a young kid
- 0:25or even someone who grew up knowing he wanted to do this for
- 0:28his whole life. Someone who we went from selling
- 0:30some chickens to being a world champion just a few years down
- 0:35the road. Before we hop into today's
- 0:37episode with Chuck, if you're watching on YouTube, make sure
- 0:40you take a second to hit that subscribe button and like this
- 0:42episode. If you're watching on any of our
- 0:43other podcast platforms, make sure that you take a second to
- 0:46go follow the show. Great interview and share with a
- 0:48friend. If you enjoyed today's episode,
- 0:50if you guys are interested in tune into the King of the Ring
- 0:53contest and either attending or just watching what we have going
- 0:56on, make sure you check out the show notes down below and we
- 0:58will have information down there for you guys on where you can
- 1:01find more information on how to tune in, watch live, or attend
- 1:06in person. If you were able to join us in
- 1:08Dodge City this weekend. Without further ado, let's go
- 1:11ahead and hear from Chuck Bradley.
- 1:16Welcome to the Cattle USA Daily podcast.
- 1:19Your go to source for the latest.
- 1:20Livestock markets, industry insights, and the update shaping
- 1:24agriculture today. I'm your host Lauren Moylan, a
- 1:27passionate advocate for agriculture.
- 1:29Here to keep you. Informed and connected.
- 1:31Now let's dive into today's episode.
- 1:38Chuck, welcome to the podcast. I am so excited to welcome you
- 1:42on today and to just get to hear a little bit more about your
- 1:45story and your background that you are another one of our King
- 1:48of the Ring contestants. It's crazy to think that King of
- 1:51the Ring is coming up just this weekend, but we are so excited
- 1:55to have you and all the other contestants come and join us.
- 1:58But I would love it if you could just kind of take it away and
- 2:00share a little bit more about your story, who you are, and
- 2:04kind of what led you to the life that you're living now as an
- 2:07auctioneer. Yeah, well, it's it's I really
- 2:09appreciate you having me on today.
- 2:11Look, I've been looking forward to it.
- 2:12We had our wires crossed last week and I was I was ready and
- 2:16you guys wanting to come to find out I had the wrong date and
- 2:18y'all didn't. So but anyway, it's it's sure
- 2:20glad, sure good, good deal to be on with you this morning.
- 2:23And and I've watched some of the podcasts you've done so far and
- 2:27it looks like everybody's had a is having a really, really cool
- 2:30time with it and and I've been excited to do it.
- 2:33No, I've had a you know, it's been a long journey for me and
- 2:37was actually something that I never really cared about.
- 2:41You know, I grew up unlike some people, you know, I'm I'm a
- 2:44first generation auctioneer. Wasn't ever a big deal growing
- 2:48up, never thought about it. My grandfather had a few kettle
- 2:51and when when I was a kid, and so I'd go with him to the
- 2:55stockyard, you know, you know, any, any time that that he would
- 2:59let me go, you know, at that point in time of my life, you
- 3:01know, as a kid, if you'd have told me that I could get out of
- 3:04school and go fight a bear or stay in class and I'd have chose
- 3:07go fight a bear, you know, So whatever it was to get out of
- 3:10school, but a lot of times then was going to the stockyard with
- 3:13him. I just, you know, the auctioneer
- 3:16always kind of intrigued me, I guess, but never, never had a,
- 3:21a, a taste for it, never had a calling for it.
- 3:24And so I played sports through school and graduated high or
- 3:29right, right as I graduated high school.
- 3:31And I've told Brian this story, you know, and it's, it's, it's
- 3:34pretty unique, but we always did something really funny for the
- 3:37talent show every year. And so senior year came about
- 3:41and you know what, what is it to do this year?
- 3:44You know, do we sing a song? Do we do this?
- 3:46Do we dance, blah, blah, blah. And so we went, a friend of mine
- 3:50and I had went to a chicken sale on a Friday night and we were
- 3:53sitting there and he said, he said, I bet you can't learn how
- 3:56to be an auctioneer for the talent show this year.
- 3:58And so I kind of sat there for a minute and I was like, man, I
- 4:01don't, yeah, I don't think that's going to click, you know.
- 4:03But I was never one to turn down a challenge.
- 4:06So I said, you know what, I think I'll try.
- 4:08So I started listening to tapes and YouTube and just anywhere
- 4:12you could find a recording of an auctioneer.
- 4:15And so and well, and I'll add to that momentarily.
- 4:18And it kind of it all, you know, kind of ties back together.
- 4:22Well, I figured it out that, you know, the talent show was a big
- 4:25hit and you know, everybody had a had a really good time with
- 4:28it. So my dad, we went to that same
- 4:31sale and it was on after that several months, you know, but
- 4:34dad knew that I had kind of figured out how to, how to talk
- 4:37fast is what he called it, you know, So where we go to that
- 4:40sale one Friday night and hit this guy that that owned the,
- 4:44the little chicken sale deal. They had a sale on Friday nights
- 4:46with chickens and rabbits and ducks and ink pens and anything
- 4:50in the world. And then on Saturday they got a
- 4:52goat and sheep sale. So we were there one Friday
- 4:55night and the guy that owned the barn was friends with my dad and
- 4:59he said, you know, he's running around and auction started at
- 5:027:00. Well, it's like 715 and Richard
- 5:06comes walking by and hey, Daddy said y'all, you know, what time
- 5:09you going to get this thing started?
- 5:11And da, da da. And Richard said I ain't got no
- 5:12auctioneer, you know? And I, and I thought I sunk, I
- 5:16mean just like completely sunk down into my chair.
- 5:18And I was like, Daddy, please don't, please don't.
- 5:22Please. Hey, what boy am I can do it.
- 5:23Get up there. And I mean it just yeah, that
- 5:25you didn't have a choice at that time, right?
- 5:28So, and I was scared to death, scared to death.
- 5:32And so I get up there. Well, heck, I didn't know what a
- 5:34chicken was worth, you know, is it worth $5?
- 5:37Is it worth $2.00? You know what's it worth?
- 5:40So anyway, I get up there and we finally get done it like
- 5:43midnight that night, right? And, and I'm and I'm sitting
- 5:46there and dad is asleep for like 4 hours out of the five that
- 5:50the, that the sales going on, he's over there just, you know,
- 5:53nodding off. So anyway, we get done and he
- 5:56said can you come back tomorrow? And I said, well yeah, I guess I
- 6:01can. You know, I ain't no big D So we
- 6:02start at 12:00. So I got up there.
- 6:05I did the sale that Saturday and he, I remember him giving me
- 6:08$100. Now he gave me 50 for Friday and
- 6:1050 for Saturday and I would just be 16, you know, just just be 16
- 6:16or 17. And I thought, man, that's real
- 6:18money, you know, cuz back, you know, back 20 years ago, I think
- 6:2220 years ago, that's a lot of money.
- 6:23And depending on how you get along now, it's still a lot of
- 6:26money, you know. And so anyway, I thought, I
- 6:29thought, man, that's pretty cool.
- 6:29So it went on about two months and I, I'd go a time or two, but
- 6:34you know, he had an auctioneer. Well, he calls me one day and he
- 6:37said, hey, he said you want to sell this sale every Friday and
- 6:40every Saturday. I thought, I don't know about
- 6:42that. You know, I'm in my prime and,
- 6:45you know, 16171819, you know, I don't really know that I want
- 6:49something every Friday and Saturday, you know.
- 6:53And then I thought about it and I was like, well, I could use
- 6:55the money. And so so I took it.
- 6:57And so I sold there from 2011 when I graduated till like 2018,
- 7:05I was still selling with them. When I first got into the WLAC
- 7:10contest. I'd never sold a cow a day
- 7:12before in my life. You know, they didn't have a
- 7:15clue what I was worth. And a really good friend of mine
- 7:18is still to this day, Keith Dennis was the auctioneer at
- 7:22Clay County when I left the chicken sale.
- 7:24He he came back and you know, he, he does it and still does it
- 7:27today. And I remember calling Keith and
- 7:31I said, Keith, I said, man, we got this contest today.
- 7:34And I said, I don't, I don't know what a cow's worth.
- 7:36I said, I don't know if they're going to set them in for us, if
- 7:39I need to figure out what they're worth.
- 7:41I mean, I had old Ben up straw hat on and jacket, you know, I
- 7:47bought it to the thrift store and, you know, it wasn't poor,
- 7:50just didn't know what to wear, you know, and I remember Keith
- 7:53calling we go, we went over the market report for two days
- 7:56trying to figure out what they were.
- 7:58Then you sit down in the box and they were setting the cattle in
- 8:00for us, you know, but that was kind of the, you know, my
- 8:03introduction to the, the contest and the auction world.
- 8:07And, and at the time, I was still working construction, you
- 8:10know, I, I didn't have, I, I only just done the chicken sale
- 8:15on Friday and Saturday. You know, I never knew you could
- 8:18make a living doing it. So that's kind of how all of my,
- 8:22that's, that's just kind of how the auction career got started
- 8:24for me. And I wanted to play ball, you
- 8:26know, I wanted to play football and go to college and life had
- 8:29other plans. And so that's just kind of led
- 8:31me to where I am now. And now I look back, you know,
- 8:34I've been doing it professionally for or
- 8:36consistently as a career for almost 10 years.
- 8:39And it so it don't seem like it's been that long, but it has.
- 8:43If you talk about those early years of your career when you
- 8:46were kind of going from you sold chickens and goats and sheep to
- 8:50now you're selling cattle and you're doing it professionally
- 8:53and you now probably know what a cow is worth these days and all
- 8:57of those things, well, I. Don't know, depending on this
- 8:59market we have. But it's, you know, I think
- 9:03we're all kind of getting whiplash together and not at the
- 9:05very least, but talk about those early years of figuring it out
- 9:09and also finding out like, hey, I can do this professionally.
- 9:14Leaving your construction job, starting on that path, kind of
- 9:17taking you to where you are right now in your professional
- 9:20career. Yeah.
- 9:21So when I, you know, I just, I didn't know anybody, you know, I
- 9:26didn't know who to call or where to go or what to do, you know,
- 9:29and, you know, and then, and this industry anymore is not
- 9:33about what you know as much as who, you know, you know, who can
- 9:36you call on to, to get help, to ask advice to, to try to seek a
- 9:41job or find, you know, I didn't know any of that at the time.
- 9:44And but what I did know was that I had kind of figured it out,
- 9:48right? And I had watched enough YouTube
- 9:51videos that I kind of knew who are liked and the style that I
- 9:56liked and who I didn't like, you know, and so, you know, I, I
- 10:01didn't really know which way to go.
- 10:03So I had, but it all started in Dickson, TN in 2017.
- 10:10I went to qualifier there and I didn't make it.
- 10:13And so, so previously to that, you know, I had the, the LMADVD
- 10:18or the CDs of the the contest, the recordings, you know, and
- 10:23about two years prior to that, probably in about 14 or 15 ball,
- 10:27a chant of a champion, which was actually made by John Corey.
- 10:31And so who's in the contest this Saturday?
- 10:34And I met John one time, you know, and so I think that's a
- 10:38really that's, that's the whole story in itself.
- 10:40But when I was kind of figuring this out and I thought, well,
- 10:43you know, the only way to to to go any further in this and to
- 10:46meet anybody is going to be in one of these contest, you know,
- 10:49So I decided I'd do it. So he was in Dickson, TN and I
- 10:54didn't make the qualifier. And so I thought I was like with
- 10:56that gun, I was like, this is tougher than I thought it was.
- 10:58And I did a horrible job. Absolutely horrific.
- 11:02I mean, like terrible. It was awful if you played it
- 11:06right. Now I get second hand
- 11:07embarrassment. It was awful.
- 11:09So you can go to two qualifiers if you didn't make one.
- 11:12So I went to West Point, NE and to John Shavon's barn in West
- 11:17Point and they had to qualify with this ice storm or whatever
- 11:21have you cold snap snow comes bellerin in, you know, two days
- 11:25before it's like 10° outside John, which I know John really
- 11:31well now, but didn't know him then, you know, and he is wired
- 11:34like a stick of dynamite and that's all he needed was a
- 11:37winter storm to come in and a contest to be here.
- 11:40You know, he was a nervous wreck.
- 11:42I mean, absolutely nervous wreck.
- 11:44So I didn't make the qualifier there and I got home and I was
- 11:49pretty down on my luck. You know, I had won the the
- 11:52Alabama auctioneer contest in like I think it was 2017 and
- 11:57then I didn't really compete. Well, I went to the meal day
- 12:00contest in Tennessee and I went twice.
- 12:03I lost, I think I was reserve champion one year and then I won
- 12:06the next. And so I was kind of getting
- 12:08around and doing a few contests and, you know, I kind of got the
- 12:11hang of it and really enjoyed it.
- 12:13But because iron sharpens iron, you know, in my book, you know,
- 12:16you, you get around some really talented auctioneers that know
- 12:20what's going on. You can learn something still to
- 12:22this day, you know, I look, I look forward to it, you know,
- 12:24because there's always something to learn in this business.
- 12:27Maybe it's what to do. Maybe it's what not to do.
- 12:29So I didn't make the qualifier in West Point and I came home
- 12:34and I'd won a contest or two around, you know, and I said,
- 12:36well, I said I really don't want to be the buckle chasing guy,
- 12:40you know, that just wants to go in every belt buckle known to
- 12:43man and, and have this title and all that.
- 12:46And I was working a few sales. I started working for Jerry
- 12:48Etheridge at Montgomery stockyard and then I was selling
- 12:52a car sale or two a week and, you know, just, and I was
- 12:55meeting people, you know, and, and, and at that point time was
- 12:58getting a little help, but you know, they're just, they're just
- 13:01not a lot of guys that are willing to help a young
- 13:03auctioneer. I mean, it's just, it's been, it
- 13:05was like that then and it, and it's still like that today, you
- 13:08know, and I try not to be that guy, you know, cuz I, I remember
- 13:11what it was like. So I decided that I was going to
- 13:14go to one more qualifier, you know, and I wanted to win that
- 13:18LMA title really, really bad. I mean, I wanted it really bad.
- 13:22And so I went to Imperial NE to Preston Smith's barn.
- 13:27He had a qualifier out there, flew out there and Jared Miller
- 13:31that would have been in, I believe it was in 18 because
- 13:35Jared Miller won the qualifier. And I, I want to say Kyle Lehman
- 13:39got second and then Jason Santomaso and myself tied for
- 13:43third place. And after the, and I'd met Jason
- 13:46and we were, you know, and I was just elated that I made the top
- 13:49ten. I get to go to the world.
- 13:51And so Jason and I kind of got to know each other and was
- 13:53talking back and forth and he said, I don't know what's worse
- 13:57nine you for 3rd or you being the 1st place loser at the top
- 14:00three, you know, and we joked about that for a really long
- 14:03time. And so we go to Dubuque, IA,
- 14:08Bloomington, WI Dubuque, IA that year and Jared Miller wins the
- 14:12he wins the world. And so I had kind of gotten a
- 14:16little bit of taste about what it was like, kind of what they
- 14:19expected of you, but, you know, surely didn't have it figured
- 14:22out, but had a better idea than than I did, you know, several
- 14:25months before that. So that was in 18 and 19.
- 14:30We went to to California. That was my second qualifier or
- 14:36my Second World contest. Well, I qualified in Crawford,
- 14:40losing Crawford. No, I qualified in Holdenville,
- 14:43OK, at Mike Cantrell's bar and Kenny Wilcox sails there.
- 14:47Well, you show up and there's Kenny Wilcox.
- 14:50I mean, a legend all in his own, you know, and just a gem of a
- 14:55guy. I've gotten to know Kenny over
- 14:57the past couple years and just just a sweetheart of a gentleman
- 15:00to be around all the time. And it's still one of the best
- 15:03auctioneers I think anywhere. And so we make Kenny and
- 15:07Kenny's, you know, he's kind of working the gate and setting
- 15:09cattle in. I mean, it's just a great deal.
- 15:11And I made the qualifier there. Russell Sleet won the qualifier.
- 15:14Well, then we go to California to David Macedo's born in 19 and
- 15:19Russell Williams, but and I made the top ten that year.
- 15:21And then I finished, I got reserved.
- 15:24And so at that point in time, you know, I was, I was on a high
- 15:28horse a little bit and probably had a little bit, a little bit
- 15:32of an ego built up, you know, because I was like, ah, this is
- 15:34mine to lose. You know, you kind of get in a
- 15:36little bit over your head and you know, you got to try to find
- 15:39some humility in in in the midst of all of that.
- 15:42We're coming home from California and Brian little car
- 15:46Brian winter calls and going to have the King of the rain
- 15:48contest invited me to come out And I thought, wow, now that'll
- 15:52be that's cool. So we go out there.
- 15:55It seems like the contest would have been in June and then this
- 15:58would have been the end of July, 1st of August.
- 16:00So it wasn't a whole lot of rest.
- 16:01Well, lo and behold, you get out there and you compete against
- 16:04Charlie Cummins and Ralph Wade and you know, J Romine and Brian
- 16:09Little and Lynn Lane Vard and you know, and I'm like, OK, I
- 16:14mean, where's 12th place out of this deal?
- 16:16You know, and so Charlie wins and, and I get 2nd and so, and
- 16:22of course, anytime you lose to Charlie Cummins, you know, is, I
- 16:25guess is almost expected anywhere you go because the, the
- 16:28man is just absolutely that good.
- 16:31And he's and he, you know, and he knows what he's doing and,
- 16:33and it was an honor to be able to sail with him.
- 16:34But anyway, so 20 rolls around and we get to COVID, right?
- 16:38And you know, the world shuts down.
- 16:40Well, they postpone everything, you know, the king of the ring,
- 16:44the world contest, the whole deal.
- 16:46So Fast forward and we had already qualified for for the
- 16:50world. So then you just kind of sitting
- 16:53there like, what do we do now? And everybody just kind of takes
- 16:56the takes a year off. So I had jobs at that point in
- 16:59time and I'd made a career out of it, you know, daily, weekly,
- 17:03you know, I'm making a living being an auctioneer.
- 17:06And so met a lot of people through the deal.
- 17:10And so we get to 21 and contest is in Dickson, TN.
- 17:16That's where the world's going to be.
- 17:18So it was put off a year from Shipshewana and Dixon and
- 17:21Arcadia, you know, because of COVID and this, that another it
- 17:24it, it, you got it, it, it got changed.
- 17:27And I really didn't see the coincidence of it at the time
- 17:33going back to Dixon. So that was the first place I'd
- 17:36ever went to an LMA qualifier. And now they're hosting the
- 17:38world. And the year before that, you
- 17:41know, I'd won reserves. So I felt, I felt as much as
- 17:44anybody that maybe it was mine to lose.
- 17:47But I think that also added a lot of pressure to it,
- 17:50especially on my part. So we go to Tennessee, have a
- 17:55terrible interview, you know, let my nerves get to me.
- 17:58And, you know, I think I was like middle of the packing
- 18:00interview and I got walked out of there and I took my hat off
- 18:04and throw it out like we ought to go to the house.
- 18:06There's no sense in staying up here.
- 18:08This is bull crap. I said I could do better.
- 18:11I know I could. You go in there for, you know,
- 18:13for the interview part of it and you're in there studying
- 18:16calculus and you go go in there and, and, and you're doing
- 18:19simple addness subtracting. You know, we all of us just way
- 18:23overthink that whole interview. You know, you get 3 softball
- 18:26questions that you know there's no right or wrong answer to.
- 18:30It's all opinionated and you're going and they're thinking you
- 18:32got to write a thesis statement, you know.
- 18:33So the contest comes in and I made the top ten and and I felt
- 18:39really good going back to the top ten that year that I knew.
- 18:43Then I said, well, I've got a shot.
- 18:44You know, I'm not out and and I sold as good that day as I guess
- 18:47I ever had in my life. And I remember when they when
- 18:50when they called the third place and then the and and reserve
- 18:54champion, I kind of sat there for a minute and I was looking
- 18:57around. I was like who?
- 18:58I was like, surely I ain't won. Ain't no way.
- 19:01And I'm sitting in no and at no point did I ever think that I
- 19:04won it. And I'm looking around the room
- 19:06and I'm like, who's going to win?
- 19:07And they, you know, they Call My Name and it took me for, I don't
- 19:11know, it just kind of took me by surprise, I guess it took me 34,
- 19:15five seconds there to really realize it, that it was me, you
- 19:18know, but an unreal, the real moment, you know, in time that
- 19:24you know, that it all, all the stars aligned.
- 19:26And, and I've told many people, you know, there's 5 panel,
- 19:29there's five judges on a panel for both the interview and the
- 19:33auction part of the contest. You change those 5 or 10 judges
- 19:38at any contest any other day, you get a different outcome.
- 19:42You know, it was, that was, I was, I'm not the best in the
- 19:46world. I was the best that day at that
- 19:49particular time. You know, I am not unbeatable.
- 19:52And, and it's been proven many times because I lost a lot of, a
- 19:56lot of contest, you know, that I didn't win before I won one.
- 19:58So, but it was a great. You know, and I think that
- 20:01night, you know, it really kind of hit me that, hey, the first
- 20:04time you ever qualified or tried to was in Dixon and now you won
- 20:09the world in Dixon. So that that was a pretty,
- 20:11pretty cool deal all the way around.
- 20:13And then course in 20, in 21, I couldn't compete in King of the
- 20:18ring, but I came and watched and was there when Will won.
- 20:21And then in 22, Brian asked me to come back out.
- 20:24So, and then I, I was fortunate enough that year to win the King
- 20:28of the Ring and that was the last contest that I was in that
- 20:32that I can remember hadn't been in one.
- 20:34I've judged a few and, and really enjoyed that judged the,
- 20:39the, the Board of wars contest up in, in Bowling Green, MO,
- 20:44here a couple of about a month or so ago.
- 20:46And judged a few around and really, really enjoyed it and
- 20:49they really thought I was done competing.
- 20:51And then Brian called and said, Hey, would you like to come
- 20:53back? And I mean, that was just a that
- 20:55was a no brainer. So really looking forward to
- 20:57coming back to dodge. And you know, when you look at
- 21:00the the set of contestants this year, it's no, it's no small
- 21:04feat for any of us to win that. You put everybody's name in a
- 21:07bag and shake them up and pull one out and everybody be just as
- 21:11as good to win it as the next. Chuck, we are so excited to have
- 21:15you back for another King of the Ring contest here in just a few
- 21:19weeks, and I know that it will be here before we know it.
- 21:23We are so excited to have you as a attendee and thank you for
- 21:27just coming on today and sharing a little bit more about your
- 21:30story, your background, and what led you to where you are right
- 21:33now. Now, all of you listeners out
- 21:34there, thanks for tuning in to another episode.
- 21:36We will see you all next time on another episode of the Cattle
- 21:39USA Daily Podcast. Have a good one y'all.