Andrew Mages is far from the loudest person in the room, but don’t mistake his soft-spoken voice for shyness. The 44-year-old soybean and corn farmer from Moorhead, Minn., has shown an eagerness to socialize, network and learn from his mentors during his journey into agriculture leadership.

Now, he seeks to take the next step as a farmer advocate by participating in the 2025-26 class of the American Soybean Association (ASA) Corteva Agriscience Young Leader Program. 

“For me, this Young Leader Program is a stepping stone to getting more involved in ag leadership,” Mages said. “I’m looking forward to learning more about the ins and outs of policy and meeting new people too, of course.”  

The Young Leader Program, which was founded in 1984, not only enhances participants’ skills through leadership, communications and issues-based training, but also builds a strong peer network, generating increased success in their business and community. As part of the program, which is supported by the Minnesota Soybean Research & Promotion Council, participants commit to attend two training sessions. The first phase takes place in December 2025 at Corteva’s Global Business Center in Iowa, with the second session commencing in February 2026 at Commodity Classic in San Antonio. A third, invite-only session is held in July in Washington, D.C., during ASA’s summer board meetings and Hill Visits.

Agriculture wasn’t always the direction of Mages’ life compass. While he still helped out on the family farm near Belgrade, he initially studied to be a civil engineer at North Dakota State University (NDSU). However, after roughly a decade working in the industry, he opted to return to NDSU for a degree in ag economics, as his interest in agriculture and farming returned, with a little help from his father.  

“My dad tricked me by offering me a few acres to rent, which meant I would be home more often to help, and then my involvement grew from there,” said Mages. “Now, this last year, I began the transition of taking over the whole farm.” 

Andrew Mages farms near Belgrade on his family farm and is a Risk Management Specialist with Progressive Ag Marketing.

Andrew’s full-time job is a risk management commodity trader and crop insurance agent for Progressive Ag, where he assists farmers with marketing their crop. As he started getting back into farming, he joined the Clay-Wilkin County Corn & Soybean Growers Board as a way to be more active in promoting agriculture and meet others in the industry.  

“One of the things my dad taught me is that it’s important to be involved and have a voice in agriculture,” Mages said. “Joining the Clay-Wilkin board has been a great experience, because through our events like Breakfast on the Farm you get the opportunity to promote ag to those who aren’t as familiar with say for example the many uses of soy, such as soy tires or shoes or SoyFoam.” 

Mages’ position on the Clay-Wilkin County board and his experience in crop marketing opened him up to an opportunity at the 2025 MN Ag Expo, where he led a session on the subject for the Young & Emerging Farmer Workshop. During his time at MN Ag Expo and other events such as the Future of Soy, he took advantage of the opportunity to network and never shied from picking the brains of Minnesota Soybean’s leaders, including President Darin Johnson, Secretary Kyle Jore and Director Bob Worth. As part of his participation in the Young Leader Program, Mages will serve as an at-large director with the Minnesota Soybean Growers Association (MSGA) and said he’s looking forward to attending MSGA board meetings, including the upcoming December 2025 gathering in Mankato. He’s also looking forward to learning from past ASA Young Leaders who serve on both MSGA and MSR&PC. 

“They’re a well-rounded, great group of people who I can absolutely learn a ton from, and I’ve really enjoyed getting to know some of them,” Mages said. 

But perhaps his biggest mentor has been his father, John, who has a stout resume of leadership in Minnesota agriculture and is currently chair of the Minnesota Corn Research & Promotion Council.

“It’s fun hearing stories about him from some of the people I’ve met who’ve worked with him over the years and the amount of respect they have for him,” Mages said, “so it’s an honor to carry on that tradition of leadership.”