2020 ALPA Victoria Young Auctioneer Competition Jack Ginnane, right, with runner up Will Schilling and ALPA CEO Peter Baldwin.

NUTRIEN South Gippsland Livestock stock agent Jack Ginnane has won the 2020 ALPA Victoria Young Auctioneers Competition on his first attempt.

At the Shepparton Regional Saleyards today, Jack, 23, outsold nine other finalists to win the competition and the right to represent the state, along with runner-up, DMD Horsham agent Will Schilling, at the national titles at the Sydney Royal Easter Show on 1 April.

Jack said he has been auctioneering mainly cattle and some sheep over the last 3-4 months at Leongatha after five years in the job with Landmark and now Nutrien.

He said one lesson from the competition he would take back to work would be to relax “and take a big breath if you need to” before each pen.

Will also competed in the Victorian competition last year, and was happy to be going to Sydney to compete. As a Border Leicester breeder, he was also keen to see the sheep at the Sydney show.

The other Victorian finalists were Ryan Bajada, Elders Rural Services Pakenham; Harrison Cozens, Kerr & Co Livestock Hamilton; Cody Fogarty, AWN Shepparton; Will Jennings, Paull & Scollard Nutrien Barnawartha; Reiley Murtagh, Corcoran Parker Wodonga; Billy Trinder, Nutrien East Gippsland Livestock Bairnsdale; James Wilson, Nutrien Ag Solutions Bendigo, and; Matthew Wilson, Elders Rural Services Pakenham.

ALPA was unable to conduct the selection school which changed the dynamics on how the competitors were selected for the Victorian competition. As part of the selection process, young auctioneers vying to enter the competition were asked to submit an unedited video of themselves conducting an auction of three consecutive pens of cattle in their local selling centre. An online judging was then conducted by an expert panel to select the ten finalists.

ALPA chief executive officer Peter Baldwin said the organisation was determined to ensure the Victorian competition went ahead albeit later than originally scheduled, and he thanked everyone for their patience in ensuring a safe event could be conducted.

The 2020 ALPA Victoria Young Auctioneers Competition finalists at Shepparton.

There was no crowd at the Shepparton saleyards to cheer on the competitors, but many people watched the video livestream. The competition was postponed twice due to the most recent out-breaks of COVID-19 in Victoria.

A panel of three experienced auctioneers identified this year’s winning auctioneer by evaluating the competitors’ diction, values, voice and manner as well as their ability to establish their own presence and unique style.

“It is a milestone in any young auctioneer’s career to be selected to compete in an ALPA Young Auctioneers Competition and our very proud industry can take great heart from the outstanding, enthusiastic, and genuine performance from these ten young auctioneers from right across Victoria,” Mr Baldwin said.

“Each auctioneer showed a steely determination to achieve the highest and best price for their vendor using every skill in their repertoire to gain the edge on their fellow competitors enthralling the seasoned buyer gallery and worldwide livestream audience.”