Cordt Holub, a seeds salesman and corn, soybean and cow-calf farmer with his dad and brother in Buckingham was honored with the Iowa Young Farmer Leadership Award for 2021 through the Iowa Farm Bureau Federation. Photo courtesy of the Iowa Farm Bureau Spokesman

The three young farmers who earned the Iowa Farm Bureau Federation (IFBF) Young Farmer Leadership Award for 2021 — Cordt Holub of Tama County, Megan Kregel of Clayton County and Michael McEnany of Story County — have very different operations, ranging from dairy to direct-marketing beef to row crops. But the three share many attributes.

Each of them is passionate about telling agriculture’s story and building bridges with consumers, through direct sales, educational events and even the popular social media app TikTok.

Through this honor, each will receive a $2,000 grant to designate to a non-profit of their choice, an expense paid trip to the 2022 AFBF Annual Convention or Young Farmers and Ranchers Conference, an expense paid trip to the 2022 IFBF Young Farmer Conference, a Choice Hotels certificate for 50,000 points ($500 value) and $1500 cash from GROWMARK.

Cordt Holub, a seeds salesman and corn, soybean and cow-calf farmer, is passionate about on-farm conservation. “I really take pride in taking care of my land and my goal is to leave this place better than I found it,” he says.

As a fifth generation Iowa farmer, Cordt Holub is proud to be carrying on the legacy of his family’s Tama County farm. As part of that effort, he’s focused on conserving the farm’s soil and protecting the water quality with conservation tillage, grass waterways and cover crops.

“I really take pride in taking care of my land, and my goal is to leave this place better than when I found it,” said Holub, who farms with his father, Craig, and brother, Cade. “Every year we are building on our knowledge base about conservation and water quality.”

The farm, Holub said, is also working on integrating cover crops into their cow-calf operation to produce needed forage. “I don’t know why you wouldn’t plant cover crops when you have cattle. It’s just a natural fit.”

Like most young farmers, Holub sees challenges ahead as profit margins continue to be squeezed by higher prices for land, equipment and nearly every other input. “It’s never easy for anybody, but these days you have to be willing to hustle to make things work,” Holub said.

As a Tama County Farm Bureau leader, Holub works to address another major challenge: telling agriculture’s story to consumers.

“We need to be able to reach out to consumers to tell our story everywhere, whether that’s to folks at the State Fair, to students through Ag in the Classroom and everywhere else,” Holub said. “I really believe that Farm Bureau is the best organization to do that because of our local base and our grassroots organization.”

Holub’s leadership also transcends his farm into the local community where he assisted with recovery efforts after the 2020 derecho and helped coordinate a $5,000 grant to the local fire department for rescue tools. He has served on his county Farm Bureau board as voting delegate, is a 2018 Ag Leaders Institute graduate and serves on the IFBF Young Farmer Advisory Committee.

Holub has been a leader in legislative and policy issues, attending many townhalls and hosting Governor Kim Reynolds on his family farm to sign a young farmer assistance bill. Holub is also a member of the local cattlemen’s association, Iowa Soybean Association, Buckingham Cooperative and Tama-Benton Cooperative. Holub will give his $2,000 grant to the Little Knights Learning Center in Dysart.

As a dairy farmer, Megan Kregel uses her TikTok handle, @megan_dairygirl, to connect with consumers, including 131,500 followers, on questions related to robotic milkers, animal care, food safety and how dairy farmers are working to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. “At least once a week I get a comment or message from someone saying I changed their mind, and they will start to purchase dairy products again after seeing one of my videos,” Kregel said. “That’s such a rewarding part of this outreach.”

Michael McEnany has served in several roles on the Story County Farm Bureau board including president and is also a Story County Cattlemen board member. He raises a cow-calf herd through his farm, Double M Angus, and works for LongView Pork where he is a site manager for three 5,000 head finishing barns.

“The focus of this award is on being a well-rounded leader. That means not only being a leader on your farming operation, but also being a leader within your local community,” says Mary Foley Balvanz, IFBF leadership training manager. “Each of this year’s recipients have invested their time serving local youth, churches, food banks and have connected with people to showcase what agriculture is all about: making a positive impact.”

The Iowa Farm Bureau Young Farmer Leadership Award was created in honor of former IFBF President Bob Joslin. It recognizes young farmers who are actively contributing to their communities and are growing as leaders through their involvement with their county Farm Bureau and IFBF. Holub, Kregel and McEnany will be recognized at the 2021 Iowa Farm Bureau Federation annual meeting, set for December in Des Moines.

The article above is published courtesy of the Iowa Farm Bureau Spokesman.