ONTARIO – Inside on a steamy Saturday afternoon, Gary Sparks’ staccato voice was music to the ears of the crowd at the Malheur County Fair Fat Stock sale.
In short bursts, Sparks called out the prices for those eager to bid on a range of stock – from dairy cattle to goats and pigs.
Yet Sparks isn’t just some guy with a microphone at a local fair stock sale. He’s a professional auctioneer who began his career when he was a teenager and he’s watched generations of Malheur County youth grow up at the fair. His style of auctioneering is focused, fast and businesslike.
Sparks conducted his first Malheur County Fat Stock Sale in 1974.
“My dad was a successful auctioneer. He sent me to the Western College of Auctioneers in Billings, Montana, when I was 15,” he said.
He was the youngest graduate in the school’s history.
Sparks is also the founder and chief operating officer of Nyssa Tractor, a business that sells used and new farm machinery.
Every year – almost always punctuated by heat – Sparks delivers a professional auctioneering performance for free at the fair sale.
It’s his way of giving back to the agriculture community, a group he said he loves.
“They are just so sincere and hard working,” he said.
At the heart of his devotion is the FFA and 4-H youth who participate.
“There is a soft spot in your head for them. For the work and the effort. It’s teaching kids a work ethic,” he said.
Sparks knows about work ethic. When he was a young man he often headlined auctions for free, just to get the experience.
“By the time I was 21 I sold five livestock auctions a week,” he said.
He’s also been recognized as an expert.
“When I was working livestock auctions, I won four world championship auction contests,” he said.
His work as an auctioneer meant travel. Lots of it. Especially early on his career, Sparks traveled around the region doing stock sales.
One of his most unusual auctioneering episodes occurred when he was 21.
“I was working at the Lewiston, Idaho, livestock auction. We had 7,000 head. Started at ten in the morning and worked until midnight,” he said.
Then he went back to his hotel, grabbed three hours of sleep and hopped on a plane for Boise.
“I drove to Baker City for a livestock auction and sold 7,700 head by myself,” he said.
It was hard work, he said.
“But that’s the thing, I did it because I needed the job,” he said.
Sparks said auctioneering is “a way of life.”
His 50 years at the fair have been worth it, he said.
“It’s been a gratifying experience to be lucky enough in Malheur County to be part of the agriculture family,” he said.
Sparks said the internet – with some help from the Covid pandemic – has changed the auctioneering game.
“Now 95% of sales are internet sales. With just the internet, there is no job for an auctioneer,” he said.
Sparks said “a lot of auctioneers have been unemployed for a long time.”
“It doesn’t affect me because I have a fulltime job. But it is just kind of the way it is,” he said.
Sparks said he will not put down the auctioneer microphone at the fair any time soon.
“I’m healthy and happy and have no desire to quit,” he said.
He said he feels a sense of responsibility for the youth who show their animals.
“It doesn’t matter if you are sick. You got to remember there are these kids and it’s their only project and that is important. They are depending on you,” he said.
News tip? Contact reporter Pat Caldwell at [email protected]
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