Iowan farmers don’t just feed the world. They’re also generational stewards of land and legacy, carrying both through generations past, present and future.
That was emphasized throughout the Wallaces Farmer 2026 Master Farmer awards program held on March 25, which welcomed four new farm families into its storied list of Iowan farmers dating back 100 years to 1926.
The 2026 inductees are:
- Morey and Rhonda Hill, Madrid
- Steve and Jane Johanningmeier, Waterville
- Dan and Susan Voss, Atkins
- Pete and Dana Wenstrand, Essex
Centennial celebration
“This year, we celebrate the 100th anniversary of the Iowa Master Farmer program, the largest-running farmer recognition program,” said Grant Menke, deputy secretary of the Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship.
He called the Master Farmers the “who’s who” of Iowan agricultural history. His great-grandfather, Beaman farmer Frank Miller, was inducted into the fifth Iowa Master Farmers class in 1930.
Alongside this year’s inductees who were inducted at an awards ceremony in Ankeny, Kirk Leeds, Iowa Soybean Association CEO, and Greg Tylka, a nematologist with Iowa State University Extension and Outreach, were recognized with Exceptional Service to Agriculture Awards.
“Farmers who share this recognition tend to have something in common: They have the forethought to look ahead, and not just around the corner,” Menke said. “Farming is never just about one season or one year; it’s about stewardship across generations, and community service and resilience.”
Despite technological advances, Menke stressed that the Iowa Master Farmer award’s core values of “Good Farming, Clear Thinking and Right Living” are more important than ever in today’s challenging ag economy, where farmers face volatile markets, high input costs and global economic uncertainty.
Farmers need one another. Since its inception one century ago, the awards program has helped overcome challenges by bringing farmers together through shared recognition. The Exceptional Service to Agriculture Award was added in 1959 with the same mission.
“Farm families back then were pretty isolated,” said Gil Gullickson, editor of Wallaces Farmer. They lacked plumbing and electricity, and transportation wasn’t often accessible.”
The Wallaces aimed to bridge that gap by recognizing 14 community leaders in the first year.
“Much has changed since then, but the basic tenets have not,” Gullickson said. “Those tenets beat in the hearts of this year’s Master Farmers as loudly as they did in 1926.”
Master Farmers
That much was evident in the stories of this year’s Master Farmers, like Madrid farmers Morey and Rhonda Hill, described as “the helpers of the community” by Gullickson. “They’re always there when their town needs a miracle,” he said.
Those efforts extend far beyond their county to 27 countries, where Morey has advocated for American farmers as a director of the Iowa Soybean Association and the American Soybean Association.
“It’s definitely a partnership. [Rhonda] worked off-farm at Iowa State University, and carried the benefits,” Morey said in an acceptance speech, noting a changing agricultural landscape that requires a multifaceted approach to agribusiness management.
They want to be remembered as farmers “who made a difference,” Rhonda said. “Farming runs very deep in us, and we feel blessed to be stewards of the land God has given us.”
Steve and Jane Johanningmeier embody a similar sentiment. The livestock and crop farmers live near Waterville in northeastern Iowa.
“I was born into farming,” Steve said. “I started at age 10, raking hay with dad in a John Deere 420. He wouldn’t let me drive it until I was 12.”
Like the Hills, the Johanningmeiers’ operation is built on collaboration. Everyone pitches in.
“I did most of the milking while he was outside with the chores and the crops,” Jane recalled about the early days, when they struck out on their own on a 280-acre rent-to-buy contract in 1971.
These days, with family members and experienced staff, they care for 500 dairy cows, 300 beef cattle and 15 grandchildren who are “very, very helpful,” Jane said. “They all play a part,” she added, crediting longtime employees for their success.
For farmers in the audience facing an uphill ag economy, Steve shared this advice: “When the music slows down, dance faster.” In other words, be able to move quickly when times are tough to adjust and capitalize on opportunities.
Susan and Dan Voss, meanwhile, are resiliently rooted in their community. They’ve implemented conservation practices throughout their operation to withstand increasing stressors such as adverse weather. Off the farm, they’re quick to lend a helping hand, and they call on their fellow farmers to do the same.
“I think our society functions so much better when people are involved in their communities,” Dan said after receiving the award.
Susan, who runs a local food pantry and has played organ at their church for 40 years, expanded: “I know farming is a business, but it’s also a way of life.”
That lifestyle shouldn’t just be lived out close to home. Essex farmers Pete and Dana Wenstrand take advocacy to the nation’s capital and beyond.
“We understand how politics work, and how a concerted effort can make a big difference,” said Pete, who has served in farming organizations for decades, including as president of the Iowa Corn Growers Association in 1988-1989, and of the National Corn Growers Association in 1993-1994.
Dana, who is involved in the Catholic Diocese of Des Moines, expressed a deep love for agriculture that pervades her everyday life.
“I enjoy just about every aspect of it, including the days you go out and come back hot and dusty,” she said, interpreting the Master Farmer award as a calling to be a “master steward of the land and community.”
Pete challenged farmers everywhere to “not only participate, but contribute.”
Exceptional service to agriculture
ISA CEO Kirk Leeds couldn’t accept his Exceptional Service to Agriculture Award because he was in China advocating for Iowa farmers. It felt fitting.
“I tell the farmers I work with that I don’t talk like a farmer, I don’t think like a farmer, but they didn’t hire me because I was a farmer,” he told the crowd in a recorded interview, highlighting the non-ag background that has supported his advocacy work more than half of the ISA’s 62 years.
He had this advice to share: “Never ask an employee to do something you wouldn’t do yourself. You have to lead to be a leader.”
The other recipient of the award, ISU Extension nematologist Greg Tylka, was recognized for his exceptional ability to simplify extremely technical subjects, and to get farmers the right information to succeed in the field.
“He can bring it home to Iowa farmers,” Gullickson said, “in a way that’s folksy and easy to understand.”
Nominations for next year’s Master Farmer awards are open now. If you’d like to nominate a 2027 Master Farmer, applications are available and due Sept. 18.