John Stencel began his journey on a farm outside of Greeley. After serving as a state FFA officer, Stencel joined the U.S. Army and served two years in Vietnam. Following his service, Stencel returned home to attend Colorado State University. In 1970, Stencel was elected president of Rocky Mountain Farmers Union (RMFU). He left Rocky Mountain Farmers Union in 1993 for an appointment as Colorado state executive director of the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Farm Service Agency. He was then asked by President Clinton to serve in Washington, D.C., first as Farm Service Agency deputy administrator of program delivery and field operations and later as special assistant to the administrator of the Grain Inspection and Packers and Stockyards Administration. He left Washington, D.C., in 2000 to return to Colorado and was reelected president of RMFU. Stencel retired from that position in November 2006.