Q&A with Isaac and Kyla Schroeder, Indiana Farm Bureau award winners
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In August, Isaac and Kyla Schroeder of Perry County won the Excellence in Agriculture Award from Indiana Farm Bureau. The Young Farmers & Ag Professionals Award honors members who actively contribute to local farm bureau programming but don’t derive most of their income from agriculture.
The Schroeders received $8,000 from Farm Credit Mid-America, $3,000 from Indiana Farm Bureau Insurance and an all-expenses-paid trip to the 2025 American Farm Bureau convention in January in San Antonio, Texas. They spoke with Inside INdiana Business about the challenges facing young farmers and their commitment to agriculture.
Where did your passion for agriculture come from?
Isaac: My passion for ag was pretty evident. My grandpa and uncle maintained a cattle herd until a few years ago. So I worked on the family farm, and then in high school, I started working for some neighbors on their farms, different dairy farmers. When I went to college, I started as an engineer, and I quickly decided that I wanted to continue to pursue my passion in ag and switched majors.
Kyla: I didn’t grow up around agriculture. I didn’t get involved in agriculture until I met Isaac in high school, and then I joined FFA. I was heavily involved with FFA during my junior and senior years of high school. I also decided to pursue a degree in agriculture at Western Kentucky University. I got an ag business degree and went from there.
Tell me about your farm in Perry County.
Isaac: We run a registered Angus cow herd. We’ve got about 20 cows right now. We’ve been doing that since 2018. We also do our own hay for the operation and sell some hay.
What about your full-time jobs?
Isaac: I work as a division agronomist with Superior Ag, a local co-op in southwest Indiana. We provide agronomy, feed, grain and petroleum products. As a division agronomist, I help provide insights and information to growers and the sales team. I help with the diagnostics of different issues out in the field. I help with training and bringing new products and ideas to the sales team.
Kyla: I work for Tempo Global Resources as an aluminum logistics specialist. The company is based in Chicago, but I work remotely. I move aluminum coils for our customers all across the United States. I assist our traders in the completion of those contracts and in fulfilling the customer’s needs.
You received this award for contributing to and being involved in Indiana Farm Bureau, the ag industry and other community organizations—even though the majority of your income doesn’t come from farming. How do you stay active in ag while juggling full-time work?
Isaac: For me, it’s pretty easy because I work with ag every day. Being in the ag industry as an agronomist, I’m constantly involved in ag day in and day out. And then when I come home, I’m looking at more ag. I finished two terms on the soil and water board in January. I just joined our county 4-H fairgrounds committee for a second time.
It’s a good opportunity to get with people, network, bring new ideas back to our own farm but then also back to work. Our kids tag along with us quite frequently to meetings. We had them with us last night at a meeting. It is a balance, but being involved in a lot of things brings lots of opportunities that we wouldn’t otherwise have exposure to.
Kyla: I have a passion for working with the youth. A lot of my ag involvement is based around our school systems, our FFAs, our 4-H organizations. Through Farm Bureau, I’ve been able to do ag in the classroom. I take my lunch hours and read to kids at my kids’ schools and have different interactions. Ag education is the majority of my involvement when I’m not involved with other aspects of Farm Bureau.
What are the challenges for young farmers right now?
Kyla: Childcare is one issue that we have highlighted and dug into and are passionate about advocating for with the young farmers. It’s hard to find not only reliable but affordable childcare. And toting your kids around on the farm is not always an option. For young farmers starting up, it’s hard to come back to the farm and work full-time if you don’t have reliable childcare.
Isaac: We went through multiple babysitters when our children were younger. They’re getting older, and we’re almost to the point where we don’t have to worry about that anymore. But when they were younger, and Kyla and I were both working off-farm jobs, it was a challenge going to meetings and things like that as we traveled for Farm Bureau. Thankfully, we had a good support network with our parents helping us out, but not everybody has that.
What’s the most rewarding aspect of farming?
Kyla: To me, it’s having the opportunity to farm with our kids and to teach them lessons of responsibility. Seeing them interact and getting excited to go help us on the farm.
Isaac: For me, and this is maybe more my job versus our personal farm, it’s helping feed the world. It’s a rewarding career when your farmers are successful and they have a good day and they have a good harvest. That for me is a success for us also because we’ve helped them achieve their goals and meet their needs to keep their family farm running and going.
What’s in store for your farm’s future?
Isaac: We’re hoping to add some more acres to the farm and have an opportunity one of these days to buy the family farm. [An aunt currently owns the farm.] That’ll add opportunities as we get more acres to sell more hay or add a few more cows and go that route.
What are your plans for the prize money?
Isaac: Try to buy the family farm. That will go towards a down payment or something like that.
Would you like to be full-time farmers someday?
Isaac: It’s not out of the realm of possibilities, but right now there’s an expensive cost to start up and get on your own. Yeah, we’re farming now but to get to the size and scale that it would take to have that be the sole income would be a huge growth from where we’re at. It’s not going to happen in the near future, but we’re not ruling it out as a possibility.
What are you looking forward to at the American Farm Bureau convention next year?
Kyla: I’m most looking forward to being able to represent Indiana and also network with all of the other young farmers from around the United States. While serving on the Young Farmers & Ag Professionals state committee, we’ve had the opportunity to attend a few conferences like this, meet some individuals and make some lifelong friends from other states. So I’m looking forward to connecting with those individuals and meeting others.
Isaac: Other than traveling through an airport, I’ve never been to Texas. So I’m looking forward to going to Texas and checking out what it has to offer.