Bryanna and Dylan Handel of Barneveld were named the 2026 Compeer Financial GroundBreakers of the Year.
Karl Sime of Stoughton and Nick Sandager of Hills, Minnesota, received honorable mention recognition. Honorees were recognized at the GroundBreakers Conferences in Minnesota Feb. 13-14, and Wisconsin Feb. 20-21.
The GroundBreaker of the Year awards celebrate young and beginning farmers for their resilience, innovation, and dedication to advancing agriculture and their communities.
The Handels received a $5,000 cash prize and selected the Iowa County Technical Rescue Team and Marshall FFA Chapter to share a one-time charitable gift of $2,500 made on their behalf by Compeer. As honorable-mention recipients, Sime and Sandager each received a cash award of $2,500.
“Each year, the stories of all nominees we receive inspire us,” says Beth DuCharme, new markets specialist with Compeer Financial. “The Handels stood out in this year’s crop because of their ability to overcome obstacles while remaining committed to creating a farm community that supports each other, as well as the rest of their rural community.”
Bryanna’s plans to establish a farm began at age 16 when she purchased her first cow and housed it at her grandparents’ farm. She and Dylan established B. Kurt Dairy in 2014 with 16 cows in a rented barn near Verona before purchasing their current farmstead from a retiring farmer near Barneveld in 2016. Since then, they’ve been growing their farm, family, and community engagement while addressing a severe stray voltage issue.
The stray voltage began in late 2023 and was linked to a nearby substation. It impacted overall herd health and drastically reduced milk production. The Handels enlisted experts and deployed solutions like rewiring and isolating their farm to minimize the impact. During their journey, the Handels encountered other farmers experiencing stray voltage challenges and helped them navigate their situations. They continue their fight as they engage with state and federal organizations to fund a new USDA study focused on better understanding stray voltage. Their goal is to uncover and correct the source cause so other farmers aren’t faced with stray voltage issues in the future.
Learn more about their stray voltage in an in-depth interview with Mid-West Farm Report: https://omny.fm/shows/mid-west-farm-report-madison/dairy-farmer-resilient-through-stray-voltage-night
They also established a farm store in downtown Barneveld to strengthen local food networks. The store is helping 35 area farmers sell their products locally.
“All these farmers are gaining income from this store, which is great because as farmers we need that help to get it to the consumer,” says Bryanna.
She says that whether it’s the farm store or events hosted on the farm, the goal is to educate people about agriculture.
“We had one kid at farm camp last summer who’d been here a couple times, and he started his own cup garden,” Bryanna says. “His mom texted me and said he started a little pickle business, something he wouldn’t have done without coming to farm camp. It’s great to see that seed planted because he probably would have never been in agriculture.”
Dylan is thankful to work alongside his family to build the dairy farm that is now their home.
“What we’re proud of is starting out as a first-generation farmer. We did a lot of work around here. We built the heifer shed in 2020 and the machine shed in 2019. We put in a lot of blood, sweat, and tears; that’s what makes it our home, that we did all the work,” he shares. “Getting to see our kids grow up and now that they’re getting older, seeing them do more stuff is just awesome.”
