Iowa Farm Bureau has named Andrew Benning of Franklin County, Cale Gent of Jackson County and Mitchell Sievers of Buena Vista County as the 2026 recipients of its Young Farmer Leadership Award. The annual recognition honors young farmers who are making a difference through leadership in agriculture, Farm Bureau and their local communities.

 As recipients of the award, Benning, Gent and Sievers were each awarded $2,000 to donate to a nonprofit of their choice, supporting organizations that strengthen agricultural education and community engagement across the state.

Additionally, each will receive $1,500 from GROWMARK, $500 from Iowa Farm Bureau, an expense-paid trip to the 2027 American Farm Bureau Federation Convention or Young Farmers & Ranchers Conference and an expense-paid trip to the Iowa Farm Bureau Young Farmer Conference.

Andrew Benning, Hampton

Andrew Benning is a sixth-generation farmer who grows corn and soybeans and raises cattle and hogs with his family on their Franklin County farm. His wife, Madison, is helping expand the farm with her new cut flower business, Benning Blooms.

Working as a farmland real estate agent for Mid-Iowa Real Estate Auctions and Appraisals, Benning uses his experience as a young farmer to help potential landowners navigate various young farmer loan programs and incentives. 

“Watching those people come into the industry and grow and start building something for themselves and their family down the line is pretty cool to be a part of,” he said. 

Benning is also providing opportunities for young people to gain equity through cattle ownership. Through his involvement with the county cattlemen, he helped initiate a program that enables youth ages 21 and younger to purchase breeding cattle and begin building their own herds. Participants establish relationships with lenders through secured loans, gain hands-on financial experience, build equity and put down roots in their local agricultural communities, and the cattlemen reimburse the interest on those loans. 

“So far, it’s worked,” said Benning. “I think three of them after graduation have moved back and have cow herds themselves. It’s a pretty cool program.”

Benning continues to improve his own cattle farm and recently constructed a monoslope cattle building to enhance his animal care and better contain manure, which he uses as an organic fertilizer. By pairing manure with cover crops, Benning is able to hold nutrients in place beneath the soil surface.  

Benning serves on the Franklin County Farm Bureau board, is an Iowa Farm Bureau Ag Leaders Institute graduate, is a district director for the Iowa Cattlemen’s Association and chairs the Franklin County Governor’s Steer Show, helping raise more than $220,000 for the Ronald McDonald House charity. 

He also has connected non-farmers with local agriculture by spearheading “Ask a Farmer” booths at the Franklin County Fair, a local Kansas City BBQ competition and during RAGBRAI when it came through his area.  

With his grant money, Benning is supporting the county fair’s Ag Learning Center, an exhibit that rotates themes each year to allow families to learn about innovations in farming, how farmers care for their animals and unique aspects of agriculture such as beekeeping.  

Cale Gent, Monmouth

Cale Gent and his wife, Nicole—who have been together since the summer after seventh grade—are raising their two children, Thea and Beckham, on their Jackson County farm where they grow corn, soybeans, alfalfa and raise cattle.

Gent, who works as a field agronomist for Pioneer, recently had the opportunity to move his family from Garner back to eastern Iowa. "The farmers, the community that raised me—now I get the opportunity, whether it's through my involvement in the community or through my career, to pay them back," he said.

On their farm, they use a variety of conservation practices like no-till, grassed waterways, buffers along streams, contour farming, rotational grazing and several farm ponds to reduce erosion and help capture nutrients before they reach nearby waters. 

“There was an interesting quote I heard, ‘Land is not an inheritance from our parents. It’s on loan from our kids,’” said Gent. “And that’s the mindset I try to carry. Thea and Beckham are loaning this to me. And the point of conservation is—I love this place—and I want it to be here in whatever capacity my kids may want or need it when they grow up.”

His connection to Iowa Farm Bureau spans generations. His great-grandfather was a charter member of the Jackson County Farm Bureau, and Gent grew up attending Farm Bureau meetings and community events with his father. In 2026, he attended his first Iowa Farm Bureau Young Farmer Conference and participated in the Discussion Meet—a competition focused on discussion and problem-solving—where he placed in the top 10 and will compete in the semi-finals at Iowa Farm Bureau’s annual meeting in December.

Through his involvement with Hancock County Farm Bureau while residing in Garner, Gent served on the Outreach Committee and would speak with FFA students about their futures in agriculture. In his role with Pioneer, he also interacts with their interns at training and encourages their questions.

"There's a certain level of hunger that you have when you first come into it that is absolutely contagious for me," he said. "It gives me the drive and the inspiration to keep trying and to keep learning."

To continue supporting this next generation, Gent is awarding his grant money to two FFA Chapters in Hancock County and the Ag Learning Center at the Hancock County Fair to redo their farm equipment cab simulator. 

Mitchell Sievers, Albert City

Mitchell Sievers of Buena Vista County grows corn and soybeans and raises hogs with his wife, Bradi, and three children, Maverick, Vivian and Evelyn. 

Last year, Sievers and his brother started a custom drone spraying business, and he also custom applies fertilizer on behalf of a local co-op for area family farms.

“Every acre is soil sampled, and we put the nitrogen and fertilizer where we need it,” he said. “Nitrogen stabilizers are big here, too, and hold the nitrogen in the soil until spring when it’s needed [for crops].” 

On his own farm, Sievers has put in buffer strips along streams and constructed wetlands to reduce nutrient loss to nearby water sources. He is also passionate about animal care and sharing that story with others, including local students from Buena Vista University. 

“We had kids come to the farm and tour the hog barn with pigs in it,” said Sievers. “It was 96 degrees that day, so we had misters running, and the fans were running. It was 75 degrees inside the barns, so the 20-degree difference really opened their eyes.” 

To help the younger generation stay connected to local agriculture, Sievers is awarding his grant money to Buena Vista County Ag in the Classroom to support ag education. This priority is shaped by his own upbringing. 

Sievers grew up going to Iowa Farm Bureau’s Young Farmer Conference with his parents, and after college his dad encouraged him to get involved on the Buena Vista County Farm Bureau board. Through Farm Bureau, he served on the Young Farmer Advisory Committee and has attended several state and federal policy trips, representing Iowa farmers.  

Through his local county Farm Bureau and pork producers, Sievers has also supported those in need with free meals when disaster struck his local community, such as the flooding in Spencer in 2024 and straight-line winds that impacted Storm Lake the following year.

“They had linemen from all over the country in town,” Sievers recalls. “We set up and grilled for all of them. And we had linemen from George come up and say, ‘We’ve never seen anything like this—this is Iowa nice.’”