Honest assessments the key for AuctionsPlus winner...

A good, honest assessment is what Winton’s Elders branch manager, Scott Taylor says he aims to deliver when he’s undertaking AuctionsPlus work.

Scott was describing his methodology in the wake of news that he is the 2018 AuctionsPlus cattle award winner.

Fellow assessor, Quilpie’s Sam Bartlett, received the 2018 sheep award.

According to Elders northern zone AuctionsPlus manager, Bob Jakins, the winning pair were selected on a range of aspects, including high growth of throughput numbers, low percentage pass in rates, and buyer satisfaction, taking into account favourable assessor feedback and comments from buyers.

“Elders Winton actually assessed and sold the most cattle in the history of the branch,” he said.

“Scott Taylor is an accomplished A2 cattle assessor and has demonstrated an excellent understanding of the intricacies of successfully marketing cattle using the A+ platform.

“He has a great strike rate for sales with only one lot passed in out of 27 sale lots marketed and sold by the Winton branch.”

Scott said he’d refocused on his AuctionsPlus ticket when he moved to Winton three years ago, using it largely in the Winton and Boulia areas for marketing weaner cattle, with very good results.

“We got equivalent prices to Roma on farm,” he said. “People can muster on a Monday/Tuesday and feed them in the yards, which helps with weaning, and then have them all trucked and gone by the weekend.”

He’s used the system for cows and calves as well, and feeder cattle, and said both had received suitable results.

“You just try and give a good, honest assessment so buyers feel you have integrity,” he said. “I don’t like people getting surprises – I don’t under-describe them but I don’t want to over-describe them either.”

Scott has had to wait to see his award, being one of the unfortunate people whose mail went up in smoke in the Australia Post truck fire on the Capricorn Highway near Rockhampton in the middle of November.

Mr Jakins said Sam Bartlett, coming from a cattle background, had learnt a lot about sheep in a short space of time when Elders Quilpie experienced a great year of growth for sheep sales.

“Like Scott, (Sam) has had no negative feedback from any buyers,” said.

“Opportunities to assess sheep are few and far between in the Quilpie area as numbers are scarce with many of the larger holdings in the area now cattle operations.”

An increase in listings from the south west region was partly because of drought, according to Sam, and partly thanks to an increase in annual turnoff.

He said people had changed marketing practices from taking their sheep to meatworks, thanks to the freight component that saw them travel a minimum of 1000km before they got a price.

“AuctionsPlus is a vital marketing tool in these circumstances,” Sam said. “Even cattle saleyards are a minimum of 500km away.”

In a similar vein, he said it enabled sellers to access markets from Winton to the north, to Victoria’s western division in the south, and all places in between.

“I learnt from Bob Jakins and from doing courses,” he said. “My aim is to ensure both vendor and buyer are happy with what they receive.”

Related: National prize for Salter