Rocky's newest young gun livestock agents forge dream careers

Lachlan McArthur, 17, joined the crew at Ray White Rural on January 8 and Jacob Galvin, 23, joined the team at GDL on January 15.

Lachlan is one of six children raised two hours north of Rockhampton at Mystery Park, a 12,140ha beef breeding operation, focusing predominantly on Angus cross cattle.

He's fresh out of school, having finished at Rockhampton Grammar School last year. During schooling he took up ag science and a Certificate III in Agriculture.

He started doing work experience with the agency in year 10 and has helped out whenever he could at the bull sales, annual dog sale, and inaugural horse sale last year.

"It all really started when I was four or five, I'd come into the weekly store sale at Gracemere with dad and I just always wanted to be the person up on the catwalk auctioneering," Lachlan said.

Being a livestock agent has always been a dream for the young man, who said he was over the moon to be offered his dream job.

And like any good livestock agent, he's already racked up some kilometres.

Over the last 10 days he was on the road with Gary Wendt travelling down through the country all the way to Adelaide meeting clients and looking at Simmental, Angus, and Charolais bulls.

"The bull run is all about making ourselves know to our clients, making them feel like we care about them, and be as best to our customers that we can be," he said.

"I learnt how different operations work down that way and how we could put it into practice up our way and how agents down that way do things differently."

So far he has been leaning on people he knows to boost his confidence before he starts canvassing his own clients.

"It's about putting myself out there so people know who I am," he said.

"I've been in industry my whole life, so it's an easier transition than if I was going into an industry I was unfamiliar with."

Like Lachlan, Jacob has been around cattle his whole life.

He was raised at Nivlag Brahman stud in Bajool, just out of Rockhampton, before his family moved to a block at Goovigen.

Since finishing school he has been working as a station hand at various properties around the state, but decided it was time to pursue his dream career as a livestock agent.

"It was always something I wanted to do ever since I was a little kid," he said.

"I've always loved getting around at bull sales, I've loved the atmosphere at the saleyards, and getting around and meeting like-minded people and hearing different opinions from producers and comparing them to your own," he said.

So far he has been busy helping out at the weekly store sales, and canvassing for new clients and said it has been a great experience so far.

"It is a bit daunting canvassing clients at first, but when you get down there and start talking to them you realise new clients are just like anyone else to talk to and you just bring up general conversation," he said.

"I've been out to a couple of places with my manager Josh Heck and colleague Charles Pitman and we go around and get out to a couple of different places.

"It's a fantastic team, no question is a silly one and they're all willing to answer and give a good answer too," he said.

This week he has been in Tamworth attending AuctionsPlus training.