Belzoni-based business has been serving the Delta for nearly six decades

Y&L Auction of Belzoni has been serving people of the Delta since 1966. Robbie Riddick, who took the reins from his father Marshall Riddick a few years ago, says personal relationships are the reasons for the company’s longevity.

“It’s about service to our customers and honesty. Always do what’s right,” he says. “People know when they’re dealing with a phony salesman. We have always stuck to these core values and it’s worked.”

Back in 1966, Marshall Riddick and Drue Lundy drove to Pulaski, Tennessee, to meet with Pete Yokley in a bowling alley. The company of Yokley & Lundy was started on a handshake and Riddick became the company’s first employee. After the death of Yokley and retirement of Lundy, Marshall Riddick took over and reorganized the operation as Y&L Auction. “Everyone in the ag industry knows Marshall. He’s been in the business so long and seen it all,” says Robbie of his dad. “When the state of Mississippi created an auction commission in the early 1990s, my dad was one of five selected for the original board by then-Gov. Kirk Fordice. He eventually served as president for over a decade.”

After graduating from Mississippi State University, the younger Riddick moved to North Carolina for five years to become an entomologist. “I decided that wasn’t for me and moved back to the Delta,” he says. “I’ve been with the company more than twenty years. Out busiest time is late fall through the next spring, basically after harvest up until the next planting season, but we do conduct sales year round.”

The items they sell are mostly heavy construction and farm equipment, but the company can and will sell anything. “If we have an open consignment auction, anything is liable to show up, from a bicycle to a combine,” says Riddick. “The number one thing we sell is farm field equipment, such as implements to work the ground. The most popular thing is a tractor, a crowd draw. People love to come look at all the different tractors. Our number one auctioneer is Gary Sykes, who’s been with us more than twenty years and one of the best in the business.”

In case of sickness or accidents, there’s always a couple of guys who can be backup auctioneers, including Riddick who’s a licensed auctioneer. “We have eight employees who have been with us for years; no one has more experience than our crew does. We may have as many as twelve people helping if we have a large auction or a couple of auctions very close together,” adds Riddick.

He notes that auctions are big social occasions. “There’s always a crowd. People love a good auction. They may not be there to buy, but they come to see the event,” he says. “We try to arrange the sale around a shed or shelter in case of rain. People can get under it and wait on the item they want. We usually have local schools or churches do the concessions. That helps make it more community involved.”

The auction business has changed a great deal in the last few years. “Everything used to be local. The neighbors and locals would come and buy equipment. Now with the internet and social media it’s global,” says Riddick. “We do live on-the-ground auctions, but we run live online internet simultaneously.”

Y&L Auction sells equipment all over the U.S. and world. “For example, a couple of months ago we had an auction in Drew and sold a couple of tractors that went to North Dakota and Iowa. We also had a combine that went to China. It’s a very exciting business to be in,” he explains.

The Riddicks have been willing to change and adapt with new technologies. “We started in 1966 and plan on being here selling stuff  in 2066,” says Riddick.

He and wife Sheila, who works at Planters Bank, are the parents of two daughters, Dr. Alex Gatlin of Madison and Madeline Riddick who will soon be an attorney in Jackson. They are expecting their first grandchild in December.