Farming and ranching families have reputations for keeping the business in the same family for generations. Many times, the business of owning and running a livestock auction also follows that tradition and the Sterling Livestock Commission in Sterling, CO is no exception.
In January, the business which is now owned by Jim Santomaso will celebrate 60 years of family ownership. He explained that it was the grandfather of his wife, Becky, who started the family auction business in the early 1930s in Columbus, NE.
It was Columbus where M.H. VanBerg founded the Columbus Sales Pavilion in 1933. Santomaso said as the families grew they saw a need to expand. In 1958, Becky’s father, Bud, who was also an auctioneer, moved the family west and bought the Sterling Livestock Commission.
Through the years both livestock auctions have remained with some branch of the family. Santomaso said the Columbus auction is now owned by fourth-generation family member, Travis Bock. In Sterling, many members of Santomaso’s family have active roles in the business with Becky, and daughter Jenny, making sure paperwork and other office duties are in order. Meanwhile, son Jason is an auctioneer, leading the calls on most sales with the elder Santomaso helping when needed.
Although he “married into” the auction family, Santomaso said he got his start working outside at the sale barn making sure cattle were sorted into the correct pens prior to and after the sales. He made his way inside, working in the ring and learning the auction chant to take his place on the block. He credits his father-in-law, and Wayne Kruse (now with Centennial Livestock Auction Ft. Collins, CO) with teaching him to auctioneer.
Although he didn’t have formal training, Santomaso said he spent a great deal of time practicing by recording and listening to himself on an old cassette recorder.
“I got started with some household sales and eventually moved to the block for cattle sales, and progressed from there,” he told WLJ.
Following his dad’s footsteps to an auctioneering career, Jason attended the Western College of Auctioneering in Billings, MT. Now, an established auction caller, Jason has been in the top 10 of the World Livestock Auctioneer Championships a number of times and will compete in a regional contest at the end of September for a chance to again qualify for the national title.
Talking about the longevity of the business, Santomaso told WLJ, “It has just kind of progressed and gone on and everybody has helped keep it going.”
Looking at a possible next generation, Santomaso said he has three grandsons, noting, “Hopefully one of them will be interested enough to continue it on. They are in junior high and high school, so who knows what the world is going to provide for them when that time comes for a decision? But hopefully, one or more of them will want to come on board and keep going when we are done,” he said.
There are also two granddaughters in the mix, but Santomaso said they have so far not expressed interest in the sale ring. They do help in the auction’s cafe and also assist in the office once in a while however.
Sales in Sterling are held every Wednesday except in the summer when the schedule is every other week. Approximately 48,000-52,000 head are sold annually.
Buyers can tip their hat in the ring, or click a mouse during live bidding via the internet at cattleusa.com. Those bidders often represent Colorado, Wyoming, Nebraska, Kansas, Oklahoma, and sometimes the Dakotas according to Santomaso.
Cattle moving through the ring generally come from herds located north of I-70, to the Nebraska state line, with ranchers who are reasonably close bringing animals from Nebraska, Wyoming, with occasional offerings from Utah.
As mentioned, buyers can buy cattle through the online auction, which Santomaso said represents one of the biggest changes he has seen over the years. He explained, “The internet is becoming more prevalent all of the time, and that’s kind of a trust that is acquired from the buyers to the market where they are doing business; that the cattle are represented correctly and if there is a flaw on one it will come off and the buyer won’t get it.”
Overall, the advent of computers has also helped to streamline work on auction days. Santomaso explained that previously all records and transactions had to be handwritten. Now, he said, the only things that are hand written then transferred to computer are records of cattle unloaded in the pens.
Looking down the road, Santomaso said “I think the future is bright for the auction markets. I think we are here to stay. An action market is extremely valuable to the community where it is located.”
Lindsay Graber Runft, director of marketing and communications at the Livestock Marketing Association (LMA), said a study by LMA confirms the valuable economic impact of local auctions. Although complete results of the study have not been released, she shared a key point saying, “In a 2017 economic impact study on a livestock auction market, in a rural Iowa town (population of 5,000), it was found that the market contributed nearly $1 million dollars to its community’s economy every year.”
Also looking to the future, Santomaso acknowledged that while the average age of America’s farmers and ranchers is steadily increasing there is still interest by younger generations to get in the business.
“Our customer base is certainly growing older but in our area, and I’m sure others too, you are starting to see a few young people in the families get more involved and start to take over and it is encouraging and we need that to sustain ag and feed the world, quite frankly. We need to figure somehow to make it more enticing for these young kids to stay on the farm or the ranch.” — Rae Price, WLJ editor
