COLFAX — A Colfax auctioneer is one of the four finalists for a top award in the national FFA organization.

Cotton Booker, a junior at Oklahoma State University, is up for the American Star in Agribusiness award, according to a news release. The American Star awards represent the “best of the best” who have developed agricultural skills, including earning an American FFA degree, the organization’s highest level of student membership accomplishment.

Booker is partial owner and creator of an online auction platform, Booker2Bid.com, which was created during COVID-19 restrictions to continue real estate and livestock auctions. At the time, many FFA and 4-H members still had project animals to get to market.

Since its launch in 2020. Booker’s platform hosted 17 online auctions that helped the sale of 5,000 acres of farmland. The site also hosted an online livestock sale in 2020 when county fairs were canceled because of pandemic restrictions.

According to the news release, Booker has been working for his family’s auction business, Booker Auction Company, and owns and markets his own herd of registered Wagyu cattle.

A panel of judges will interview the Colfax native and three other finalists this month, and the award will be presented on Oct. 26 by the National FFA president, Cole Baerlocher, who is also a Colfax resident. The two Whitman County men were K-12 classmates at Steptoe and Colfax schools.

All of the convention sessions and awards will be aired live on the RFD-TV Cowboy channel.

Booker recently competed in the 2022 National Auctioneers Association IAC championship, where he was judged on his presentation, chant, voice timbre, body language and other performance elements.

The other three finalists for the prestigious FFA award are Terrence Clayton, of Alabama, Kaitlyn Hart, of Georgia, and Haden Handley, of West Virginia.