At Pakenham this Monday, Mick O’Callaghan will compete in his first Australian Livestock and Property Association’s (ALPA) Victorian Young Auctioneer competition.

The 25-year-old has worked for Sharp Fullgrabe and Co in Bairnsdale for the past three years and will be up against nine fellow agents from across the state.

In June the top 10 of 23 contenders were selected at the ALPA Victorian Auctioneers and Selection School in Bendigo.

“It’ll be a pretty tight competition,” Mr O’Callaghan said.

“It’ll be different to selling in the yards, I’m sure I’ll be nervous.”

Mr O’Callaghan has attended three auctioneer schools since 2015 but believes the real learning occurs when it’s “hands-on”.

Mr O’Callaghan remembers spending time in the Wodonga saleyards and the Bairnsdale saleyards and bought his first lot of cattle at Bairnsdale through Sharpe Fullgrabe at just seven years of age.

Clearly a young entrepreneur, as a kid in the North East, Mr O’Callaghan had a little business selling yabbies to local bait shops for 25 cents a yabby, and would auctioneer to himself as he walked along dam banks checking his nets.

At 17 he started working on a local farm for Stewart Stockfeed where he spent five years, also working nights drafting cattle at the saleyards, until he took up a position as a stock agent with Sharp Fullgrabe.

The top three young auctioneers will compete at the Royal Melbourne Show and the winner of that competition will then proceed to the big daddy of young auctioneer comps at the Sydney Royal Easter Show.

PICTURED: Sharp Fullgrabe stock agent Mick O’Callaghan will compete in his first ALPA Victorian Young Auctioneer event after three years in the industry. K1140-3508