Mark Sneed

January 2012

Mark Sneed was born and raised in Ewing, Illinois on a 1,700 acre farming and livestock operation.  A strong work ethic was instilled in Mark at an early age, and was further encouraged through the death of his father when Mark was 12 years old.  Mark's family was continuously involved in the 4-H program for over 40 consecutive years.  Mark's interest was particularly strong in the cattle aspects of the livestock industry.  He spent many years and miles on the road with his 4-H projects attending shows across the country.  Mark had the honor of exhibiting the Grand Champion Steer at the North American International Livestock Exhibition (NAILE) in 1983, 1984, and 1985 and also the Grand Champion Steer at the American Royal in 1986.  This was a particularly proud moment for Mark, as he only fed one steer per year.  After high school, Mark attended Rendlake Jr. College and continued his education at Southern Illinois University majoring in Agricultural Education and Mechanization with a minors in Animal Science and Computer Programming. While in college, Mark was named High Overall Individual at the Midsouth Livestock Judging Contest. Mark owned a professional fitting service for four years after college and then moved into a district manager sales position with Vigortone Chemical Company.  With Vigortone, Mark covered 18 counties and a million and a half dollars in sales per year.  After Vigortone, Mark was employed with Golden Harvest Seed Company for the next six years.  While selling chemicals, Mark still remained close with the livestock industry and realized his heart was truly in the cattle sector of livestock. With that, he moved to Ohio to start a cattle order buying position. It was while in this position, Mark realized that one of the most important marketing tools was photography and internet tools. This sparked Mark's idea of starting his own livestock marketing company.  In 2003, Mark went to Denver to start his professional career as a livestock marketer through photography at the National Western Stock Show. Word of mouth spread and the business has not slowed down since. As many in the cattle livestock industry know, Mark’s name has been seen and continues to be seen on many of the top operation’s photographs throughout the country.  Mark Sneed is a household name in the cattle industry we all know and love, whether people know him personally or have just seen his name under a beautiful photograph, he is recognized.  His work is tremendous and he takes great pride in putting out the best there is in livestock marketing through photographs and now videos. ▪ (Information as of 2012)