Established in 1944, Schrader Auction Company’s team specializes in professional auction marketing services. The previous years’ successes have provided insight into the need for innovative marketing to meet market demands. Schrader answers that call by joining together an elite team of real estate and auction expertise with local, regional, and national marketing.

Schrader conducts over 200 auctions a year. Located in Columbia City, Indiana, company sales representatives span seven states and partner with other real estate and auction companies across the United States. They are licensed in 28 states and can secure proper licensing in any state, with real estate auctions conducted in 40 states. Schrader is the first to conduct an online multi-tract auction simultaneously with the live auction on March 27, 2000.

Luke Schrader

Luke is a 4th-generation auctioneer and real estate broker who not only understands the sentiment tied to land as part of family legacies, but also the asset as an investment opportunity that carries significant stability in wealth-building strategies. Luke has coordinated transactions totaling more than $46M and is licensed in over 20 states, from California to the Carolinas. He is passionate about assisting clients with land transactions of all sizes and asset types, taking pride in diligently handling the most sought-after family and investment assets. Luke manages a team of 60 sales agents located across the country from Colorado to Ohio. In addition to a highly professional sales force, the Schrader Team includes an in-house marketing division and legal counsel.

Besides being in the auction business, Luke grew up on an Angus farm and still manages Angus cows today. He graduated from Oklahoma State University with a degree in Agribusiness.

Outside of work, he is passionate about community support, serving as President of the local FFA Booster Club, President of his state Realtor Land Institute (RLI) Association, and Board Member for Love Africa Missions.

Jess Nighswonger

Jess Nighswonger is an agricultural real estate broker and auctioneer with Schrader Real Estate & Auction Company, helping landowners maximize the value of farms, ranches, dairies, and other agricultural assets. He works with farmers, ranchers, family trusts, institutional landowners, agricultural lenders, attorneys, wealth advisors, and estate representatives, developing customized marketing strategies and determining whether an auction or traditional brokerage approach best fits their property and objectives.

Raised in Weld County, Colorado, Nighswonger developed his passion for agriculture through 4-H and FFA. Growing up in one of the nation’s most productive agricultural regions gave him an appreciation for the factors that influence rural property values and the unique characteristics of every agricultural asset.

Before joining Schrader, Nighswonger built his career with Cargill, serving in leadership roles and managing large-scale operations and teams of more than 500 employees. Today, he and his wife are raising their three children in Wiggins, Colorado. He also leads the Colorado FFA Auctioneering Leadership Development Event, which he established to introduce students statewide to auctioneering as a career path.