NEW CASTLE, Ind. – They both grew up on farms in neighboring states, then met in college and now operate their own farm.

Mark and Jessica Wenning are this year’s winners of the Achievement Award presented annually by Indiana Farm Bureau to young farmers and professionals in agriculture. They will receive an $11,000 cash prize and an all-expenses paid trip to compete for national honors at the 2024 American Farm Bureau convention in Salt Lake City in January.

“If we’re blessed to come back with even greater awards, that’s excellent, but we just want to continue our progress personally and represent Indiana well,” Jessica said.

The couple raises corn and soybeans on about 450 acres in Henry County, roughly 40 miles north of Indianapolis.

Mark, 34, works full-time at the farm and installs drain tile for extra income during the slower winter months. Jessica is employed as a certified public accountant at Ernst & Young in Indianapolis.

“Any free time I have I try to help with the farm,” she said. They have three children, Noah, 5, Molly, 3, and Joel, 1.

Applicants for the Achievement Award are judged heavily on community involvement and success.

The Wennings were both 10-year members of 4-H while growing up. They are now volunteers for the 4-H program in Henry County. They serve on the Young Farmers and Ag Professionals board of directors for their local farm bureau.

In addition, Mark holds seats on boards for Purdue Extension at Henry County and the Indiana Soybean Alliance in Indianapolis.

Jessica is on the Accounting Advisory Board at Ball State University, where she received a degree in accounting, finance and economics. Her husband received his degree in agricultural systems management and agricultural economics from Purdue University.

Mark grew up helping his father, Jim, raise corn and soybeans on about 800 acres in Henry County. Jessica was raised on a dairy farm of about 100 Holstein cows in Ohio south of Toledo.

They met through a friend while in college and remained in touch with each other, then started dating a few years later.

Jessica said both of them being from similar backgrounds was a help in getting to know each other. “We did talk about the weather I think quite a bit on our first date as farmers do,” she said.

In 2013, Mark was able to obtain financing with help from a USDA young farmer program to purchase 60 acres. He now owns about 160 acres and rents the remainder of his tillable soil.

Mark said he and his father help each other and share equipment, but each decides what happens at their respective farms, which are separated by less than a half mile. “We work together but we have our own operations,” he said.

At one point, Mark said he was looking at becoming an engineer after graduating from high school.

He later realized farming was too much in his blood to sit behind a desk or stare at a computer screen for much of the day. He said he also liked the idea of being his own boss.

“I wanted to be able to be outside doing my own thing. I guess it came back to get me,” he said.

Jessica’s calling emerged a bit sooner while taking a high school accounting class and earning top honors. “I enjoyed everything about it,” she said.

On the business side of things, Mark performs most of the bookkeeping at the farm while Jessica does the work involving taxes.

Jessica said she went through the typical adjustment period after going from living on a dairy farm to raising corn and soybeans.

She enjoys the wiggle room in her schedule from not having to milk cows twice a day at certain times with no exceptions.

“One thing I found with grain farming is you can have a little more flexibility.  Being more flexible is nice,” she said.