LMA
KANSAS CITY — Northwest Kansas auctioneers made a great showing at the recent 2016 World Livestock Auctioneer Championship (WLAC) Midwestern Regional Qualifying Event.
Kyle Layman, Morland, captured third place and Brandon Hamel, Damar, placed fifth in the event held Jan. 11 in Sigourney, Iowa, where it was hosted by Keoco Auction Co., LLC.
It was the final of three WLAC qualifying events.
A total of 28 contestants competed for a top 10 placing, granting them a spot in the 2016 WLAC at Paris Stockyards in Paris, Ky, June 15-19.
The two other qualifying rounds were held in St. Onge, South Dakota and Carnesville, Georgia.
Layman won the 8th Annual Kansas Livestock Auctioneer Championship in Russell last October 29, hosted by Russell Livestock, LLC. Hamel placed second at the state competition. Contestants must be members of the Kansas Auctioneers Association and sponsored by a Kansas livestock market.
A third Kansas man, Ethan Schuette of Washington, made the top 10 on Oct. 16, at the South Dakota regional qualifier and will also move on to the World competition. Schuette also competed in the state event in Russell but did not place.
About the World Livestock Auctioneer Championship
In June 1963, the Livestock Marketing Association (LMA) 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.
LMA is proud to sponsor an event that brings together North America’s top livestock auctioneers in a competition that showcases professionalism and promotes the auction method of selling livestock.