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October 12, 2018 CapitalPress.com 11 ‘I really didn’t think of any career other than that’ ROGGE from Page 1 “I’m pretty confident in my ability. At the same time, I still have a long way to go,” he said. ‘Nerve-wracking’ One thing he knows he needs to work on is reining in his nerves, even though he leads livestock auctions twice a week and announces nu- merous rodeos each year. The competition is “just very nerve-wracking,” he said. It takes place at a live auction where contestants are put in a sound-proof room and don’t even know the layout of the barn before their turn begins. They go in cold and auction off sever- al drafts of animals they’ve never seen with no feel for the buyers, he said. He was 25th in line at the latest qualifier — and that left plenty of time to height- en his anxiety. “And you know you’re being judged. People are hanging on everything that comes out of your mouth,” he said. Things got a little better after his first draft of cat- tle, but he’ll be working on staying calm and controlling his breathing — visualizing he’s in competition when auctioning back home at the Burley and Blackfoot, Ida- ho, sales. And he’ll continue to work on his chant, which is constantly changing. He’s trying to make it “smooth as glass” and easy to listen to. It all comes down to rhythm and tone of voice, he said. “Building your chant is a lot of putting things in and throwing things out until you get something you’re confident with,” he said. He tries out different fill- er words and one-liners, but the foundation of his evolv- ing chant sounds like “dot- ter-dow” — a variation of “dollar now.” He’s also worked to im- prove his body language and look more professional. No more hands in his pockets or slouching — although he’s still trying to curb his point- ing habit after judges once nicked him for that, saying it makes buyers uncomfortable. Reviewing videos of his performance at sales also helps him to identify where there’s room for improve- ment. Carol Ryan Dumas/Capital Press Auctioneer Kade Rogge inspects steers at the Burley Livestock Auction in Burley, Idaho, on Oct. 3. Plans change Rogge grew up in the auc- tion business. His father is a farm auctioneer. His mother has long clerked at livestock auctions, and his step-father owns Burley Livestock Auc- tion and is a livestock auc- tioneer. Nonetheless, he never thought he’d end up in the auction business. Rodeo was his first love. “I really didn’t think of any career other than that,” he said. He started team roping at the age of 7, traveling across the Northwest. He added calf roping and steer wrestling to his agenda in high school and won a rodeo scholarship to the University of Montana Western. After a year at the university, he transferred to the College of Southern Ida- ho — where he met his future wife, Jasmyn, and qualified for the College National Fi- nals Rodeo. While at CSI, his rodeo coach knew he had an auction background and wasn’t afraid of a microphone and asked him to be the announcer at a roughstock clinic. That led to a growing business of an- nouncing high school rodeos and the Cody Stampede Ro- deo in Wyoming and securing Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association credentials. But he had lost a little of his drive to compete and start- ed working at his step-father’s livestock auction, where he realized he didn’t want to work out back forever. “I wanted to be out front auctioneering,” he said. In 2011, his parents pitched in and sent him to the Western College of Auctioneering in Billings, Mont. “In a sense, I was just car- rying on the family tradition,” he said. He had always had the gift of gab, and was never shy about talking with people. But auctioneering hadn’t been part of his game plan. “I never thought I’d be doing this, but it all kind of makes sense,” he said. Rogge’s father, Ron Rog- ge — who won the Idaho state auctioneer competition in 2005 — said his son has been around auctions all his life. But he was also a little surprised Rogge got into the business, starting a little later than most auctioneers. But talking in front of peo- ple has never bothered him, and he’s sure done well with it, he said. “He’s always been pretty outgoing, never-met-a-strang- er type of kid,” he said. Hard work Announcing rodeos comes naturally to Rogge, but auc- tioneering is different. It takes a lot more practice and educa- tion, he said. “I’ve had to work ex- tremely hard, with a lot of trial-and-error and struggles,” he said. Rogge is in business with both his step-father’s live- stock auction and his father’s farm sales. An easy-listening chant is key to his job, given that buyers might be sitting at an auction for eight to 10 hours. But being trustworthy and professional are also critical. And an auctioneer has to be knowledgeable about whatev- er he’s selling — “whether it’s teacups, equipment or cattle,” he said. That’s the No. 1 require- ment for being a successful auctioneer, Merv May, Rog- ge’s step-father, said. “And your people skills got to be pretty good. It also takes practice and work,” he said. A lot of people go to auc- tioneer school, but the num- ber of them making a living in the business is fairly small, he said. May also grew up in the auction business, having auc- tioneered since he was 14. He fills in for Rogge when he’s away announcing rodeos and has to practice the week be- fore to get his voice in shape. Rogge “does a good job, and he works at it. You have to work pretty hard to im- prove and excel,” he said. Rogge said a love for what he does drives him to keep upping his game, and he feels fortunate to be earning his in- come from two enjoyable en- deavors — auctioneering and rodeo announcing. Losing his voice is his big- gest worry, and he keeps up on his intake of Vitamin C — especially with a 2-year-old daughter, Rory, and a 1-year- old son, Rix. Cough drops are another staple — and he’ll need plen- ty of them with the fall run-up to 2,000 head a day moving through the auction barn and the new season of high school rodeo. But improving as an auc- tioneer is constantly on Rog- ge’s mind. “I do have confidence, but at the same time I personally don’t know if I’ll ever be sat- isfied. I’ll always be working at my craft and trying to im- prove,” he said. Unclear how program would be paid for WOLVES from Page 1 Mateusz Perkowski/Capital Press File Roger Nyquist, chairman of the Linn County Board of Commissioners, supports the redevelopment of a defunct paper mill in Millersburg, Ore., into an intermodal facility to switch containers from trucks to rail. The facility is intended to allow agricultural goods and other exports bypass road congestion in Portland. Millersburg location already zoned for industrial development INTERMODAL from Page 1 “They don’t like losing control, so they like to have a relationship with businesses that are importing and export- ing,” he said. Brooks is within 185 miles of rail docks at the Port of Tacoma, while Millersburg is about 215 miles away, putting it “outside the zone of opportu- nity,” Mannix said. The Linn Economic Devel- opment Group, which wants to site the facility in Mill- ersburg, acknowledges in its proposal that some shippers in the northern Willamette Val- ley would be willing to truck goods to Brooks, but not as far south as Millersburg. “By being able to capture additional volume originating in Yamhill and Clackamas counties, the Brooks location may observe an 11 percent higher volume of containers,” the application said. However, because ship- ping goods by rail becomes more cost-effective over lon- ger distances, and because trucks will be kept off Oregon highways for a higher number of miles, the total economic benefit of locating the facility farther south in Millersburg is greater, according to the Linn Economic Development Group. “If the State’s goal is to maximize public benefits to residents through reduced pollution, highway wear and tear, and fewer accidents, then the optimal location would be Millersburg, followed closely by Eugene,” the report said. The Millersburg location has the added benefit of already being zoned for in- dustrial development, as it was formerly a paper mill, said Greg Smith, LEDC’s project manager. The Millersburg proposal recognizes that the number of containers imported to the facility is likely to be far surpassed by the demand for empties. However, the partnership with Northwest Container Services, which operates an intermodal facility in Port- land, will help resolve that problem, Smith said. “Whether you’re in Brooks or Millersburg or Eugene, that’s an issue you’re going to have to work on,” he said. Sean Stevens, executive director of Oregon Wild, said the concept also holds promise for the environ- mental community because it prioritizes non-lethal measures ahead of conflict. “Done well and with a lot of goodwill, this could be effective,” Stevens said. “It really does focus on avoiding conflict.” It remains unclear how such a program would be paid for in the long-term. The group discussed pos- sible funding sources, in- cluding the Wolf Depre- dation Compensation and Financial Assistance Grant Program, which receives money from the Legislature and is administered by the Oregon Department of Ag- riculture. During the 2017 legisla- tive session, Rep. Greg Bar- reto, R-Cove, introduced a bill that would tie com- pensation directly to the increasing wolf population. That measure could surface again in 2019. ODFW staff will write specific language for de- veloping site-specific de- terrence plans and present it to the work group Nov. 5 during a webinar and confer- ence call. The next in-person meeting is scheduled for Nov. 27 in Pendleton. Individual group mem- bers made it clear they still have lingering concerns over other parts of the Or- egon plan. Stevens, with Oregon Wild, took issue with the state’s definition of “chronic depredation” in Phase III of the plan, which is currently defined as two attacks on livestock over any period of time. ODFW has proposed amending the rule to three attacks on livestock in a 12-month period, but Ste- vens said even that is too broad. “We really need to be thinking about an appropri- ate timeline,” Stevens said. The group also went back and forth on issues such as radio collars, and whether it is appropriate for local authorities, such as county sheriff’s offices, to participate in wolf-livestock depredation investigations. Those topics will be up for further discussion moving forward. For the wolf plan to work, Nash said ranchers and rural communities need to buy in. Right now, he said the current plan is broken. “Producers don’t call in depredations at this point. Most have chosen not to work within the context of the plan, because the context of the plan hasn’t worked,” Nash said. “You’ve lost the human tolerance condition among ranchers, in north- east Oregon especially.” Kevin Blakely, depu- ty administrator for the ODFW Wildlife Division, said he was encouraged by the progress Tuesday, and believes it could be a foot in the door for more con- sensus. “There’s got to be some- thing for everybody on the table,” Blakely said. “I think that’s how you start to get some movement.”