Butch Young
Hall of Fame | 2016

Butch Young has a smile on his lips and a story on his tongue each time you meet him. If you listen to some of those stories you can learn the history of the pork industry in Oklahoma. He will be inducted as the 2016 okPORK Hall of Fame recipient during the 57th Oklahoma Pork Congress on Friday, Feb. 26.

Young worked hard as an auctioneer. He donated his time to help junior livestock breeders and showmen. He met young people all over the country and recruited the best ones he could find to Oklahoma State. He could make an audience laugh and he could use his words to touch an entire crowd. The dusty sale barns were where his stage could be found but it was a stage nonetheless.

“He was always working for the breeder,” Kim Brock, okPORK Hall of Fame member said. “His knowledge of the industry is very important, but it was his wit, his personality, his entertaining value as an auctioneer that I always thought made him the very best.”

Young is the kind of man who will be thanking God for the people in his life one minute and chuckling to himself as he tells you about being drafted the next. His dedication to farming, education and agriculture as well as his habit of encouraging people to become a part of the industry he loved was only highlighted by his warm demeanor and wit.

He has retired now, but there is no doubt it is Young’s turn to be inducted into the okPORK Hall of Fame and when he does many stories will be shared. The awards banquet will be the highlight of the evening.

 “I’ve known Butch Young since the mid-60s,” okPORK member Rick Maloney said. “I think without question if you were looking for that auctioneer who could bring you the most value to a set of animals Butch Young is the name that would come to the forefront rather quickly and he was sought after from breeders from all across this country.”