Livestock auctioneers are well known the world over for their distinctive fast-talking and often musical chants that can mesmerise crowds and are designed to extract the maximum possible bids for the cattle they sell.

US media outlet Vice News recently attended the World Livestock Auctioneering Championships in Bloomington, Washington, and produced a great video story (above) highlighting some of the 31 finalists involved, delving into the psychology of livestock auctioneering and attempting to answer the question “what the hell they’re actually saying during their chant?”.

The original article in which this video appeared can be viewed on the Vice News website here

For Australian readers it is worth noting that there actually two ‘international’ livestock auctioneering championships held each year.

One is the annual World Livestock Auctioneering Championship showcased in this video by Vice News which has been hosted by the Livestock Marketing Association since 1963. Just as the US baseball championships are called the ‘world series’, this event is open to finalists from the USA and Canada, but carries the title world championship.

The other competition is the International Livestock Auctioneer Championships held every year at the Calgary Stampede in Canada, which draws competitors from the US, Canada, South Africa and Australia. The winner of the Australian Livestock and Property Agents Association (ALPA) national young auctioneering competition competes in the rookie section of the International Livestock Auctioneer Championships at Calgary each year.