AllMovie

German filmmaker Werner Herzog examines several alien cultures at once in this short documentary. How Much Wood Would a Woodchuck Chuck finds Herzog visiting Lancaster County, PA, for the 1976 World Championship of Livestock Auctioneering, where men compete to show who can talk the fastest as they take bids on cattle brought to market. As Herzog introduces us to these men who have devoted years of practice and study to the art of talking quickly, we also meet the ranchers who raise the prize animals for sale, the auction fans who come to watch the contest, and the Amish farmers of Lancaster County, who display a grudging acceptance of the more modern aspects of the auction contest and cattle sale (and chat with Herzog in old German).