Pictured: Perry & Cassandra Baeten, 1st Runner Up; Tyler Baudhuin & Lucy Wiese, Winner; Derrick & Miranda Nelson, Speak Up for Ag Winner and 2nd Runner Up
Tyler Baudhuin of Sturgeon Bay is the 2026 Wisconsin Outstanding Young Farmer. The announcement was made during the 72nd Annual Awards Weekend, Jan. 23-24.
Tyler Baudhuin is the fourth generation on the Sturgeon Bay dairy farm, where he helps operate in partnership with other family members. He started his personal involvement in farming in 2014 when he purchased 46 acres of land. Since that time, he has become a partner in his family dairy that has recently been expanded to more than 300 cows. Their total 900 acres of cropping land includes corn, alfalfa, soybeans, wheat, peas, oats, and straw.
Additional Winners
Derrick & Miranda Nelson, Eau Claire, were named the Speak Up for Ag Winners. Both Derrick and Miranda are active in promoting agriculture in a variety of ways. One of their most notable contributions is founding the Breakfast on the Farm in Eau Claire County. Since they hosted it in 2022, the event has grown into a highly successful outreach event that also provides financial support for local 4-H, FFA chapters, the local fire department, and scholarships. The couple also played active leadership roles in Eau Claire County Farm Technology Days in 2021. The pair were also named the Second Runners Up. They own and operate 1,505 acres of land with 531 acres owned and 974 rented. The farm also includes 235 head of Holstein cows along with the accompanying youngstock.
Perry & Cassandra Baeten, New Franken in Brown County, were named the First Runners Up. Over the past decade, they have increased herd size from 70 to 700 cows.
Other Finalists
Luke and Ashley Lisowe, Malone.
Alissa and Travis Murray, Omro.
Ryan and Megan White, Reedsburg.
Judges for the event included: Dawn Haag, member-owner of Virhada Holsteins LLC, 1998 WI OYF 2nd Runner Up; Matt Lange, Independent Business Consultant and founder of Intagral; Kyle Zwieg, Owner/Operator of Zwieg’s Maple Acres, LLC, and 2022 WI OYF Winner and 2023 National OYF Winner.
In addition to the important networking events and the awards portion of the program, OYF finalists participated in ag forums, learning hands-on training on very detailed farm safety and preventing farm accidents. The session was presented by Marie Vanden Wymelenberg, ER Trauma Nurse at St. Vincent’s in Green Bay, and she and her husband, Adam, were WI OYF 1st Runner Up in 2025.
The group also toured Mullins Cheese Factory in Mosinee and Leigh Yawkey Woodson Art Museum in Wausau. They also had lunch at a unique venue, Wausau Mine Company.
The host for this year’s event was Lindsay Baneck from Helenville. Next year, Tyler Baudhuin will host the Wisconsin OYF Awards Weekend in Weston.
