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Rimbey cowboy Edge’s out others to claim international auctioneer championship

Dean Edge may be a competitive cowboy, but he’s also an award winning auctioneer
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Rimbey’s Dean Edge was named the top talker at the 2017 International Livestock Auctioneer Championship held July 15 at the Agrium Western Event Centre on the Calgary Stampede grounds. File photo

A buckle and bunch of cash is something all cowboys want to walk away with from the Calgary Stampede.

However, for Rimbey’s Dean Edge, the items he took home weren’t associated with a title most associated with the annual rodeo.

Edge, 37, was named the top talker at the 2017 International Livestock Auctioneer Championship held July 15 at the Agrium Western Event Centre on the Calgary Stampede grounds. Edge, who is the sales manager of Vold, Jones, Vold Auction in Rimbey, walked off with the $10,000 first prize and the champion’s belt buckle after making a change in his delivery.

“I decided I was going to change it up a bit. He is a trophy. I said to myself, ‘I’m not going to sell him by the pound; I’m going to sell him by the dollar.’ His head is worth more than his meat is,” Edge said of the 1,815-pound steer that went for $2,600.

“It’s like I said, you can put him on your wall or on your Cadillac.”

In doing that, Edge left an impression on the judges regarding his selling skills. The competition saw contestants auction off a black box item along with a distinctive longhorn and three other head of cattle.

Edge came out on top of the 24 auctioneer field that included competitors from across Canada, the U.S., South Africa and Australia. The field went through a preliminary round July 14 before the top 10 had to parlay their skills in front of five judges with the scores based on criteria including spotting bids, livestock knowledge, rhythm and timing.

For Edge, appearing at the competition has become a regular thing, but he would also love to be competing on the rodeo side of the Stampede — he’s been part of the tie-down roping six times in his career.

“In the rodeo, you react more to what happens. Here, you also have to react to how the cattle are and how the buyers are, but I can build my game plan a bit better in the auction,” he said.

“I have very good relations with the buyers and that helps a lot, and I know cattle pretty well, too.”