Iowa Farm Bureau Leadership Award recipients balance multigenerational operations with roles in education, policy advocacy and local leadership.

Armed with a deep appreciation for their heritage, the winners of Iowa Farm Bureau’s 2025 Young Farmer Leadership Award are raising more than crops and livestock. They’re also working to cultivate the next generation of farmers and community leaders.

Blake Anderson of Adams County, Randy Francois of Buchanan County and Devon Murray of Floyd County are committed to carrying on the legacy of their family farms and helping others access opportunities in an era when young farmers face innumerable challenges including financial barriers and farm consolidation. All three are also driven to see their rural communities thrive, devoting countless hours to leadership through Farm Bureau and other local organizations.

The Iowa Farm Bureau Young Farmer Leadership Award, created in honor of former Iowa Farm Bureau President Bob Joslin, recognizes young farmers, ages 18 to 35, who are actively contributing to their communities and demonstrate leadership within their county Farm Bureau and other groups. 

Anderson, Francois and Murray will be recognized at the 2025 Iowa Farm Bureau Federation annual meeting in December. In addition, the Iowa Farm Bureau will provide $2,000 community grants to local nonprofits designated by each of the award winners.

Honoring their past

Murray grows corn and soybeans with his dad while also running a seed business on a Floyd County farm stretching back four or five generations. His wife and three children — ages 10, 7 and 4 — are immersed in farm life, from helping during school breaks to participating in 4-H.

“Having a multigenerational farm has meant a lot to me. Obviously, it’s given me the opportunity to come back to do what I love, what I grew up always being interested in,” Murray said. “And you hope you can leave a legacy for your children to come back to if they choose to.”

Francois runs a farrow-to-finish hog operation and raises row crops with his parents and wife in Buchanan County. With memories of his parents working to build their farm from scratch seared into his memory, Francois is committed to sustaining and growing opportunities for his own young children, ages 6, 5 and 2. 

“My parents started this farm in the ‘70s. Just the two of them, kind of grew this farm from nothing … with sweat and tears,” he said. “I’ve been very fortunate to be a part of it. We work really hard every day, and it’s really important to me to leave a legacy.” 

Anderson, a full-time agriculture and industrial arts teacher in the Southwest Valley School District, has a diversified farm that includes corn, soybeans, hay and a cow-calf operation with a long family history. He purchased his great-grandparents’ farmland and bought his grandpa’s cattle herd, carrying on the family’s cattle genetics.

“It’s just kind of neat to be able to see all the years that my grandparents and my great-grandparents devoted and how we can continue that on,” he said. “My nephew really enjoys the farm, and so it’s kind of fun to see that next generation get excited about continuing on what our families have done for generations now.

“And then it’s kind of neat for me, in my teaching world, I’m also able to bring in those experiences on the farm directly to the kids.”

Anderson’s education career also includes family ties, occupying the same classroom where his dad taught for nearly three decades. He also had a pair of uncles who taught at the school. 

Cultivating leaders

In addition to farming, community involvement is a cornerstone for this year’s leadership award winners. All three are active in Farm Bureau leadership, helping lead community events and shaping agricultural policy from the grassroots up.

Murray has served as Floyd County Farm Bureau president and vice president, as well as on the state resolutions committee. He’s also been active in attending and moderating town halls, navigating difficult local and state policy issues. 

“The policy part has always attracted me to Farm Bureau,” he said. “How can we help influence policy of the future, whether it’s local or state or even national level …, all of these things that are important to farmers …, to give them a voice. It truly does start locally and builds from there.”

He’s hosted a “farm to fork” dinner on his farm and helped lead the county Farm Bureau’s activities for a local community event called “Party in the Park” with live music, food vendors and social opportunities. 

He’s also a regular presence at the county fair and coaches his daughter’s youth sports teams, emphasizing the qualities of resilience and teamwork.

“I feel like my goal has been to kind of be Mr. Positive with them and not let the girls get too down on themselves and work through it,” he said. “That’s life, right? In your job, you’re going to have tough days, so if you have a tough play, move on and enjoy (the game).”

Francois, too, sees sports as a platform while coaching his kids. Farming and coaching both require patience, communication and building a strong team, he said.

“Everybody’s going to have a rough day or there’s going be a lot of things going on you cannot control,” he said. 

“On a athletic field or on a farm, on a day-to-day basis we’ve got to have a plan in place. But at the same time, you have to pivot when you have adversity. When something’s not going right, you’ve got to be able to switch gears.”

Francois has held leadership roles at the county level, starting in Delaware County before moving to Buchanan County, where his goal is to serve as president and eventually voting delegate. 

He’s also been active at the state and national levels, serving on the state resolutions committee, as chair of the Iowa Farm Bureau Advisory Committee and as a member of the American Farm Bureau market structures issue advisory committee.

Additionally, he’s had a hand in numerous county events including food drives, ATV safety and legislative forums.

Anderson is currently serving as voting delegate for Adams County Farm Bureau after stints as vice president and president, bringing a voice to key agricultural issues. 

As a member of the county’s public relations committee, he’s helped coordinate an annual free community barbecue dinner feeding up to 350 local residents. 

He also mentors students through FFA, while also teaching subjects ranging from ag entrepreneurship to woodworking. 

For younger ages, he created the “Watch Me Grow” program to help students understand where their food comes from by taking them out to see a field being planted, watching the crop grow all the way through harvest and processing at the local ethanol plant.

He’s working to enhance the program with a livestock component, showing how farmers raise cattle from the pasture to plate.

“I want to make sure people in Adams County and Southwest Iowa have the (most) opportunities that they can,” he said. “Making sure that we develop new leaders and for people to see the potential that they have within themselves.”

Giving back

Anderson designated his com­munity grant to support Norvell’s People in Need, a local organization that supports individuals with all types of needs, whether it be winter coats for kids or fuel for cancer patients to travel for treatments. 

“I have always admired the People in Need group as they silently take care of our community members and make sure people’s needs are met,” he said. “They don’t do this for recognition of their work; they are about supporting people.” 

Murray awarded his grant to the Floyd County Farm Bureau for upgraded grain bin respirators to promote lung health for farmer members working in dusty situations like cleaning out combines or grain bins.

Francois is donating his community grant to support East Buchanan FFA, which is a relatively new chapter. 

“I’d like to see that program continue to grow and keep that rural vitality here in Winthrop by giving kids an opportunity in agriculture,” he said.