The Showpig.com team asked legendary swine auctioneer Col. Dan Baker to recall some of the greatest lessons he has learned along the way. He wrote this account of some words of advice that have followed him through the decades.

I am at the time in life when it is fun to reflect over the years past to those events and people who had an important impact on my life.

Just before my sixteenth birthday, I was walking to my next class, when Mr. T. W. Thatcher, Superintendent of the Sulphur Springs (Ohio) School asked me into his office. Back then, the superintendent knew every kid in the school and most likely their parents too. Mr. Thatcher was also my 4-H advisor.

If I liked a class, I did very well. But, if I felt it didn’t place in my future, my grades in that course reflected it.My report card read with an A in Vo-Ag and an F in English. My theory was you don’t need English to drive a tractor.

Mr. Thatcher had me sit in front of his big oak desk, and as he started our conversation, it was obvious he had been going over my grades, which were laying in front of him. He noted the A’s in ag and the F’s in English, plus some other low grades as well. With these results, he said, I would be spending an extra year in school.

He asked what my future plans were. I replied, quit school, start farming and begin auctioneering. He knew my interest in auctioneering, as I had auctioneered some box socials, and of course, just chanting around at 4-H meetings, etc.

He looked at me and asked, “Who are the auctioneers at the top of their profession?” As I would mention a name them, he would reply, “He is good; he graduated from high school,” or “He is really good, and he graduated from Ohio State.”

It was obvious he had done his homework on me.

When I finished my list, he pondered for a minute. Then looking straight at me said, “Dan, you have sure named very successful auctioneers to serve as role models in your quest to become an auctioneer.” He then paused andended our conversation with, “But, you haven’t named a quitter yet!”

While I did not get my English grade up to match my A’s in ag, I did graduate from high school. It is ironic as the years have gone by, how the subjects I gave little effort to would become so valuable. The past 55 years of my professional life have centered on communication in one form or another. Goodness knows how many times during the 17 years I worked on the production of the Yorkshire Journal and Seedstock EDGE, I wished I would have better applied myself to English, grammar and spelling during my school years.

There is no question in my mind Mr. Thatcher’s 10minutes with me had a huge impact on my life’s journey. Like most people, my journey has had a few “downers” along the way, and his voice is always in the background saying, “You haven’t named a quitter yet.”

Sadly, I really didn’t realize until years later, after Mr. Thatcher passed away, what a blessing he was.

I have learned over the years change is inevitable. The dynamics of an industry will change and you have to adapt and be willing to change as well or be left behind. A number of us, use to auctioneer “on the farm” production sales all over the country. As dynamics of the commercial industry changed, this pretty well came to an end in the mid-’90s. I wanted to stay involved in the purebred industry so took a job with the NSR’s Seedstock EDGE, even though I didn’t know how to turn on a computer. 

The advice I would give to young people (and older ones too) is to simply follow your dreams. Today, I have a smart phone, iPad and laptop and use them often.  However, there are times when I turn them off and find a quiet spot and dream of future plans. Just like I use to do back in my kid days in the old barn while sitting with my Spotted sow and her litter of future champions.