By Megan Parker
Regional Editor - The Country Today
WILTON - Auctioneer Robert Brandau can pick out cattle he sold years after they passed through his sale barn.
"Once you see 'em, you always see 'em," he said last week at his kitchen table.
After 58 years in the auction business, Brandau, 79, has seen a lot of cattle. He loves selling livestock, and in 2009 his Kendall sale barn will mark its 40th anniversary.
As a teenager, Brandau went to cattle sales for his father, who was in the livestock business. He watched the auctioneers.
"I thought I could do as well as they could," he said.
He completed a two-week auctioneer course in Iowa. Back at home in rural Wilton, a local auctioneer named Harrison Wallace was on his doorstep the next morning.
Brandau credits that auctioneer with starting his career.
"You've got to have somebody who believes in you," he said.
Brandau auctioneered at sale barns in Tomah, Coon Valley, Wisconsin Dells and Viola. His wife, Alice, managed their dairy farm and family, which grew to include five children.
"I came home from Viola one night and fell asleep and took out a mailbox," Bob said. "I said, 'Enough. I got to get my own barn.' "
He bought the barn in Kendall and opened R. Brandau Livestock Sale Barn on Oct. 29, 1969.
"The livestock is my favorite sale. I grew up with it. I know the livestock industry and the livestock people," he said.
Sales are at 1 p.m. on Tuesdays. Bob also hosts a consignment sale and popular small-animal auction once a month from March to October. He sells 100 or more creatures, including emus, ostriches, llamas, chickens, ducks, geese, goats, and the occasional snakes, rats and mice.
Whenever an animal is spotted loose in Kendall, the Brandaus get a call.
"There's a goat up here at the bank," Alice said, recalling one phone call.
Bob remembers selling a man 12 emus. He asked where his truck was, and the man pointed to a station wagon.
"We slammed the door shut and away he went," Bob said, smiling.
Another buyer loaded a Jersey cow into his minivan.
"She was looking into the front seat," Bob said.
Auctioneering requires knowing the value of items and keeping the crowd interested, Bob said.
"It takes practice. Your mind has to be very coordinated with the numbers. You have to make those split-second decisions," he said.
He cares more that the seller receives a good price than the buyer gets a steal, he said.
"Bob's always got the farmer at heart. He takes care of them better than he takes care of himself," Alice said.
Bob is active in the Wisconsin Auctioneers Association. He served as president in 1977 and was elected to the Hall of Fame in 1978. He served on the board that pushed for state auctioneer licenses. His license is No. 4.
For decades he has sold items at banquets for organizations such as Ducks Unlimited and Whitetails Unlimited. He also auctioneers at the Monroe and Juneau county fairs and the Elroy Fair.
Two of the couple's children, Mary Jo Hill and Ken Brandau, are auctioneers.
"Both good auctioneers - probably better than Dad is," Bob said.
Competition from other sale barns, a decreasing number of dairy farms, and the recession have slowed business, the Brandaus said.
"It's a changing thing. Who knows? The good Lord knows, I guess," Bob said.
Perseverance is the best word to describe Bob, Alice said.
"As long as I feel pretty good and can get around pretty good, I won't stop," he said. "It was a lot of good times, a lot of bad times. It's been a challenge, I guess. If I had to do it over, I would."
Megan Parker can be reached at 800-236-4004, ext. 3867 or
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