Subjects Taught:
Bid Calling, Livestock, Ethics
At the age of 10, Dan, a country boy from Bucyrus, Ohio, developed a fascination with auctions when he attended a farm auction with a neighbor to buy a tractor. He enjoyed it so much, he continued to go to sales with his neighbor and one of those sales was a Duroc sale in Sandusky, OH. There he got to watch the dedicated Duroc Association field man, Paul Parrish work the sale and turn in bids. From that day on he was hooked on the excitement of an auction sale ring. Dan’s first experience as a ring man was when he was in FFA at the Berkshire Five Stat Futurity Sale in Bucyrus. After High School, Dan attended the Reppert School of Auctioneering and started working purebred livestock sales. In 1964, he set his auctioneering on hold to work for the National Spotted Swine Record Association of Bainbridge, IN. He was the youngest field man ever and covered the entire country. This was the beginning of a long, very successful career in the Purebred Swine Industry. After a dedicated stent with the Spotted Association, Dan became the managing editor of the Yorkshire Journal. His monthly column, “Stumbling along with Dan Baker” was a favorite with industry. After eight years with the Yorkshires, Dan left to follow his dream of a fulltime livestock auctioneer. Dan has auctioned well over 4000 sales and has worked the ring in over 1000 sales. He has sold pigs in over 25 states and during the “Golden Era of Swine Sales” has averaged over 125 individual breeder production sales a year. Baker’s way with the people was thing drawing attraction to make him the auctioneer in high demand. He always seemed to have the right words at the right time that made everyone in the crowd comfortable and confident that they were being treated fairly and honestly. Outside the business of livestock sales and working for the NSR as advertising coordinator, Dan is passionate about his family and church. He has taken on leadership roles with the Otterbein Methodist Church and has donated his auctioneer talents to several Benefit auctions for the March of Dimes and the Benton Central FFA.
