Rowdy Benson’s roots run deep at Lemmon Livestock. Growing up on a ranch just east of Lemmon, SD, he is long familiar with the auction yard. His family’s ties to the barn span generations—his grandmother worked in the office in the ’70s and his grandfather conducted much business at the yard through his trucking business. That tradition continued with the next generation: Rowdy’s father worked at the barn for over three decades, and his mother spent several years working in the office as well.
Rowdy himself worked for Lemmon Livestock as a teenager, and after attending auctioneering school, has worked every sale day since 2011. So, when the chance came to take over the ownership reins of the auction market, it was only natural for Rowdy to jump at the opportunity with his fellow co-owner, Brady Ham.
“Something we’re really looking forward to is serving our community and being a good place for sellers to market their cattle,” Rowdy told WLJ.
New owners at work
Rowdy and Brady have been at the helm of the market since March of earlier this year. Rowdy handles the day-to-day operations while Brady represents the barn and cattle.
The yard serves as a vital hub for ranchers within a 30-to-40-mile radius, but its reach goes far beyond. Cattle are sold across the country, with many yearlings bound for North Dakota, Minnesota, Iowa, Nebraska and other surrounding states.
“Where we live in the Great Plains has some of the best grass in the country,” Rowdy said. “And there’s really high-quality cattle—some really good feeding cows and good backgrounding calves.”
With six months of ownership behind them, Rowdy admits that balancing time between office duties and being out in the countryside has been the biggest challenge. Yet during this time, they’ve enjoyed reconnecting with long-time consignors while forging relationships with new ones. One of the key ways Rowdy has stayed connected with local cattle producers is through market reports shared live on the yard’s Facebook page.
In addition to their involvement in the livestock community, Rowdy and Brady are both youth coaches. Rowdy leads the youth wrestling program while Brady coaches the local football team. Contrary to what one might expect, Rowdy sees a strong overlap in the skills needed to coach and those required to run an auction market.
“I think when you’re running practices and you’re motivating kids to give all of their effort it really transitions over into being a leader in any sort of business, whether that’s in the livestock industry or not,” Rowdy said.
One of the most important lessons Rowdy has learned as a coach is the value of focusing on what he can control. In the auction market business, there are countless variables beyond his reach—the price calves will fetch, who shows up in the stands or the state of the futures market on sale day.
“I can only focus on what we can control and that’s providing the best service for our community,” he said. “Making sure those cattle are presented in the best way possible.”
A strong partnership
Rowdy attributes much of his personal and professional growth to the lessons he learned while working for Brady as a hired hand more than a decade ago. “Brady was one of the best bosses I’ve ever had,” Rowdy said. “A lot of the things I’ve learned about ranching, thinking outside the box and leadership are because of him.”
Their working relationship began when Brady pulled into Lemmon Livestock one day in 2011, unloading a trailer full of cows, and asked Rowdy what he was doing there. When Rowdy explained he was working at the barn full-time while pursuing auctioneering, Brady offered him a job with the flexibility to follow that dream.
Though buying the sale barn together was originally just an idea tossed around in conversation, it became a reality last fall when Rowdy called Brady to ask if he was still interested. His response? “Heck yeah.”
Since their time operating the market together, they’ve steadily introduced changes to keep things moving forward. One of the biggest updates includes updating the commission structure from a percentage-based model to a per-head basis.
“We don’t believe that people should be getting penalized for having good cattle,” Rowdy said.
Market trends
The cattle market is highly competitive right now with the limited number of cattle available. Lemmon Livestock is also positioned in a competitive area with other auction markets and online video sales, which further emphasizes the need to provide a standout service to its customers.
“We’re focusing on what we can control, and we can’t control when people want to sell cattle,” Rowdy said. “We have to serve the ones that show up, and still go out there and do our best.”
Demand for weigh-up cattle has been exceptionally strong recently, with strong demand for lean cows and bulls all summer. Coming into fall, after selling off a lot of cull cattle, Rowdy anticipates that there may be a limitation in the volume of market cows and bulls.
In his experience, he has found that if the weigh-up market has been strong and steady, then the calf market will follow suit.
“Even though people are calling and telling me that the futures are terrible and the world’s going to end and it’s election year and whatever,” Rowdy said, “you’ve just got to look at the sale reports and look at what lean cows and bulls are doing, and they’re hanging in there. The live cash price is fighting back hard. So, I think it will be okay.”
At the end of the day, the goal of Lemmon Livestock is to provide a service to its community, Rowdy said.
“What we’re here for is to build this community and be a part of it,” he finished. “There’s no way those other ways to sell your cattle are going to build your community the way a livestock market does.” — Anna Miller, WLJ managing editor
