Gladstone Auction Mart celebrates 50 years

Details

Published on Thursday, October 17, 2013

By: Kate Jackman-Atkinson

myWestman.ca

On Friday, Sept. 13, 1963, the new auction mart in Gladstone held its first sale.  Fifty years later, past and present sellers, buyers, shareholders, staff and supporters gathered to celebrate Gladstone Auction Mart’s 50th anniversary.

The crowd was especially large at the mart’s regular Tuesday cattle sale on Sept. 10. That day, the crowd came out for the anniversary celebrations that followed the sale. On behalf of council, Town of Gladstone councillor Dawn Coubrough presented a certificate to the mart to recognize their milestone.

Local MP Robert Sopuck also made a presentation to mark the auction mart’s milestone.

Over the last 50 years, those involved with the Gladstone Auction Mart have had a front row seat to the changes in the livestock industry. Today, the auction mart holds primarily cattle sales, with a few horse sales scheduled each year. In the early days, hogs were their number one seller. “Hogs put this place on the map,” said auctioneer Dave Nickel, who has been working at the auction mart since 2000.

Les Foxon, who managed the auction mart for 23 years, said that at one time, they held the largest hog sales in the province, topping out at 42,000 hogs a year. He added that horse sales were also quite popular at one time when there were a lot of PMU farmers.

Cattle sales were originally held on Fridays, but trucking the animals on the weekend proved to be difficult. Sale dates were switched to Monday for hogs and Tuesday for cattle and horses. Sheep and goat sales were added in the 1970s. Specialty sales, like bred cow sales, were held on other days.

Over the years, the auction mart has seen a number of changes and upgrades. The wood pens were upgraded to metal and a roof was added over all of the pens. In the early days, working in the pens with no roof was a cold job. In 2003, Nickel said they expanded the pens and their capacity per sale is now at about 1,500 head.

Ken Waddell was first involved with the auction mart in 1973 when he was the Ag rep for the area. During his time as rep, Waddell said they began sheep sales on Monday after the hogs sold.

“We ran a lot of sheep and goats through,” he said, adding, “[The sales] served the industry well for a number of years. At the time, the only other sheep sales were in Winnipeg.”

In 2002, the hog sales were discontinued as were the sheep and goat sales.

On sale days, the auction mart employs 20 people, 15 of whom work in the back, handling the animals.

About eight years ago, the auction mart moved to a fully-computerized system. This was an important change for current manager Gerald McGowan. Prior to it becoming computerized, every piece of information about each animal and the sale was recorded by hand on an invoice.

Auctioneer Tyler Slawinksi has been auctioning at the mart for the last two year. Over that time, he said they’ve seen up and down prices, but they are starting to see a shortage of supply.

“Not as many heifers have been retained, that has to drive the price,” he said. He added that there has been strong demand for yearlings.

Mart owned by area farmers

When the auction mart was started, 232 shares were sold at $50 each to area farmers.  Eight area farmers, George Adamson, J.R. Ferguson, Roy McBride, Henry Arthur, Ralph Fehr, J.R. Patterson, Don Wild and Oscar Otto, sat on the first board. Today, there are 500 shares held by 185 people.

Nickel said that dividend cheques are sent to shareholders from Ontario to British Columbia.

The auction mart also serves farmers from across the province. The cattle sold come from farms from McCreary to Miami and from east of Portage to the Saskatchewan border. Most of the cattle bought at the regular sales are shipped either east or west, depending on the markets. The mart’s central location, in the middle of the country and along Highway 16, has helped make it accessible to buyers across the country.

Two or three years ago, the mart had its peak year, selling 4,400 head. Since BSE in 2003, Nickel said they have seen a number of producers leave the industry and the cattle herd shrink. 

“There were a record number of cattle producers in the province at the time [of BSE],” he said.
Since then, low cattle prices combined with the rising price of land and grain have contributed to the loss of many cattle producers.

One of the biggest challenges the mart faced in the early years was collecting money from buyers. Foxon explained that in the early days, there was no bonding or licensing of buyers. He explains that going to small claims court was a regular occurrence.

“We won a lot of cases but never got [paid] a dollar,” he said. He jokingly said he’s glad his father never knew how often he was in court.

Waddell also recalled the troubled times the mart faced because of the lack of licensing or bonding of buyers. The mart would extend credit and he explained that they were hit hard by three or four different buyers who fell on hard times and were unable to pay. Other times, he said, they were the victim of outright fraud by buyers.

In many ways, the auction mart’s continued existence is thanks to Foxon and former board member Vern McGowan, whose son Gerald now manages the mart. In the 1970s, the auction mart needed a loan to stay in operation. They initially went to the credit union, but were told that they couldn’t help them. They then went to Bank of Montreal for financing, but were declined. Ultimately, both Foxon and McGowan each put up a quarter of land as security against the loan, which was then approved.

Mart creates lots of memories

Foxon managed the auction mart from November 1979 to 2002. In addition to managing the mart, he also sat on the board for a number of years. He remembers the first sale he worked at the mart, keeping a pen of top steers separate.  When the animals sold, they topped the sale at $0.19 per pound.

“I’ve got a lot of good memories,” said Foxon looking back at the years he has been involved. Looking back at his time as manager, Foxon vividly remembers the staff.

“I gave a lot of kids their first jobs, and I never fired any of them,” he said. 

He said that while he didn’t always agree with the board, he got along well with all of them.

Current manager Gerald McGowan has worked at the mart for the last 40 years.  He started out working in the back of the auction mart, with Foxon as his boss. 

“It’s been a great thing for this district and farmers,” said Foxon about the mart.

Ernie Wickstead is out of the cattle business now but he was on hand to watch the anniversary sale. 

He sold a bull at a bull sale held in the mart’s first year of operation.  At that sale, the top bull sold for $350.

Yard foreman Kenny Fraser, 68, is an auction mart fixture, working there since 1972.
“I’ve been around quite a while,” he said.

He sees first hand the animals going through the sales ring.

“I’ve seen a lot of wild cattle and I’ve seen a lot of tame cattle.”

Overall, he says that the cattle are a lot wilder than they used to be and aren’t handled as much these days.

Doug Mowatt has been buying cattle at the mart for the last 45 years and started buying when he was 12 years old, running from the high school in Gladstone to the auction mart for sales. He has also served on the mart’s board and has seen a lot of changes in the cattle sold at sales. He explains that they have moved from British breeds to more exotic cattle breeds and also notes that there are no longer day-old calves at the sales, where in the past, there might be 20 or 30.

McGowan said that they have seen a big change in how the animals are transported. 

“Before, everything was hauled in the back of trucks. Now, the animals are all transported by trailer, with large semi trailers taking away most of the animals. This change has required re-doing the mart’s parking lot to better cope with the heavier trucks and trailers,” he said.

McGowan says he enjoys the camaraderie that takes place at the mart as well.

“I enjoy working with people and meeting the public,” he said.

In 1975, Ken Waddell was elected and sat on the board for 25 years, including a number of years as chairman. He also volunteered his time to clerk at many sales.

An auctioneer, Waddell held household consignment and machinery sales in the auction mart yard in the early 1980s. While he never auctioneered full-time at the mart, he did sometimes serve as a backup if the regular auctioneer was sick or unavailable.

Waddell remembers some of the unique animals to pass through the auction mart ring, including an old boar that weighted over 1,000 pounds. In the early days, the mart often sold pet stock, such as puppies, kittens and exotic chickens.

“The novelty stuff was always fun,” he said.

Like others, Waddell remembers the people. 

“Overall, it was the people that make up the agriculture industry. The regular, faithful buyers and sellers,” he said. “There were a lot who were there every week and they became almost like family.”

One of Waddell’s favourite memories of the mart was an animal he had bought there. Knowing that his wife had always wanted a horse, Waddell bought “Buster”, a one-and-a-half-year-old gelding at the auction mart in the early 1970s for $75.

Waddell’s wife rode the horse for years. It was also the horse their two sons learned to ride on.
“[Buster] was a real neat find at the mart,” Waddell continued.

Looking to the future, those involved in the mart hope it will be around for another 50 years, but they know there will be challenges.

“The beef industry is going to change, we’re just not sure where it’s going to go,” said Nickel. 

One thing they do know is that there will be fewer producers and everyone in the industry will be facing challenges such as higher land prices.