New England based livestock agent Justin Oakenfull recently took out the coveted top title at the 2024 ALPA National ALPA Young Auctioneer Competition. Read about his journey with Elders to date.
Based at Elders Inverell in New South Wales, Justin has donned the pink shirt for close to seven years.
“I always knew I wanted to get involved in agency, first moving away from home to work for a friend training racehorses,” Justin said.
From there, Justin was encouraged by long-time family friend Richard Gleeson, and Elders Inverell branch manager, to apply for the Elders Livestock Traineeship Program.
“The traineeship program really launched my career, seeing me move throughout New South Wales, Victoria and Queensland, before landing me back in my hometown of Inverell as a Territory Sales Manager,” he said.
“Now, in my role, every day is different. When it comes to sales, I can do everything from preparing the stock, auctioneering and sales,” he said.
“Aside from that I could be out on property assessing cattle for AuctionsPlus, drafting for feedlots or marketing livestock to our clients.”
Justin attributes his experience in the traineeship program for building up his professional contacts.
“I am very lucky that I was part of the traineeship program, as I was able to meet a lot of people throughout my experiences moving throughout the country,” he said.
“Having a strong network of different people from different areas always helps when it comes to the selling of or purchasing of livestock.”
It is this network which has helped Justin build up his client base.
“I firmly believe that through doing the job right, clients create clients,” he said.
“You build a rapport in your area through your service and by word-of-mouth one thing leads to another.”
Justin is proud of his recent victory at the 2024 ALPA National Young Auctioneers Competition, but is keen to remain humble about the experience.
“It’s certainly a good feather to put in my cap, after placing as state runner up last year,” he said.
“But at the end of the day, auctioneering is only a small part of what we do, outside of marketing stock and the volume we sell.”
Justin will go on to represent Australia at the upcoming Calgary Stampede in Canada later this year, which is something he is honoured to be partaking in, particularly as it will be his first trip overseas.
“I’m looking forward to the experience as my best mate Harry Waters, the 2023 National ALPA winner, went last year and says it’s definitely one for the books.”
Justin feels fortunate to have the strength of the Elders livestock network behind him, and feels that without his mentors, he wouldn’t be where he is today.
“Without Richard encouraging me to apply for the traineeship program I wouldn’t be at Elders,” he said.
“I have a lot of people to thank for their mentorship along the way, like Nik Hannaford, and those who have since left the business including Andrew McAlister and Jim Saunders.
“They played a major role in grounding me in the agency life when I first started, pointing me in the right direction, and I still speak to them to this day. That’s what working for Elders is all about.”
