Charlie Bible named Young Gun Award winner for FY26

Charlie Bible of Nutrien Ag Solutions Bourke has won the AuctionsPlus Young Gun Award, powered by Zoetis. The win caps off his first year in the assessor role that has already put him in the top 10% of assessors by throughput for both cattle and sheep.Mr Bible completed his assessor accreditation at Dubbo in June last year and was signed off within a month. In the 12 months since, he has completed 49 cattle and 51 sheep assessments, moving 3,841 head of cattle and 19,844 head of sheep through the platform.

"I was very, very excited and very, very surprised," Mr Bible said of the call informing him of the win.

It is a fast rise for someone still finding his feet in the role. Mr Bible started in agency in Dubbo in 2023 before shifting to Bourke midway through 2024, and credits much of his quick progress to his boss and mentor, Greg Seiler.

"Greg's a very big part of getting AuctionsPlus up and running out here," Mr Bible said. He had already worked through plenty of assessments alongside Mr Seiler before the accreditation course, which meant the formal training reinforced skills he was already building.

That mentorship also made for a smooth handover of trust from clients, many of whom were being asked to back a newly accredited assessor with significant volumes of stock.

"That transition was all very smooth, and obviously when you have a mentor like Greg there, and he's putting trust in you, that gives everyone else a fair bit of confidence in you as well," Mr Bible said.

For Bourke producers, the case for AuctionsPlus comes down to distance and detail. The nearest saleyard is at Dubbo, roughly 360 kilometres away, making the platform's on-farm pricing model a practical move rather than simply a convenience.

"That on-farm price is very attractive," Mr Bible said. "It also lets you go into a bit more detail about the breeding and the bloodlines of the stock, and the genetics, that you don't get out of a saleyard. It lets producers showcase their breeding, and other people can see that too. That goes both ways, when you're selling and buying."

A dry back half to the season has also pushed more stock through the platform than usual, with cattle and lambs failing to reach finished weights and instead being sold as store stock.

AuctionsPlus CEO Wyn Snyman said Mr Bible's rise through the ranks in his first year was a standout among this year's winners.

"Charlie is certainly a young gun, excelling really fast in his first 12 months as an assessor," Mr Snyman said. "He's keen to take on new things like Live Assess, app usage and AuctionsPlus Bloodlines, so he's going to go far."

For the first time, the Young Gun award has been powered by Zoetis, with the winner securing tickets to a sporting event of their choosing.

Zoetis Livestock Marketing Manager Daniel Guest said it was important to recognise and encourage the next generation of livestock professionals.

“From all reports Charlie is an agent who has come a long way in just 12 months. Zoetis congratulates him for dedicating himself to his clients’ success and wishes him all the best in what’s to come next.”

Mr Bible said he had not settled on how he would use the Zoetis prize, though the NRL grand final or State of Origin were both in the running.

With a first year like this behind him, Mr Bible is not looking to change much about his approach.

"Just keep selling sheep and cattle," he said.

AuctionsPlus Awards FY26 Winners:

Top Throughput Cattle Assessor: Darryl Napper

Top Throughput Sheep Assessor: Kelvin Donnan

Top Throughput Cattle Agency and Top Throughput Combined Livestock Agency: Davidson Cameron & Co

Top Throughput Sheep Agency: Spence Dix & Co Keith

Top Throughput Machinery Agency: Phillips Livestock & Auctions

Howard Gardner Award: Trevor Basset

Gary Dick Award: James Tierney

Young Gun Award: Charlie Bible

Industry Woman of the Year: Sam Platts

Machinery Excellence Award: Angus Newcombe