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Education & Experience

Because of our synergy, the service you receive from one of our managers is a reflection of all our managers. No one person can be all things to all people. Together, our managers offer over 400 years of agricultural production and management experience. Here are some of the things our managers and real estate associates bring to the table:

Advanced Degrees

Don McCabe - MBA
Justin Wheeler - M.S. Crop Sciences
Casey Watson - M.S. Crop Sciences
Ashley McEwen - M.S. Crop Sciences
Hayley Daniels - M.S. Agronomy

Over 20 Years of Experience

Dan Patten, David Klein, Kevin Meiss, Kevin Hilligoss, Michael Lauher

Over 30 Years of Experience

John Tammen & Chad Hoke

Over 40 Years of Experience

Brian Thompson & Keith Waterman

Farm Operation Experience

Kevin Hilligoss, David Klein, Kevin Meiss, Dan Patten, John Tammen, Justin Wheeler, Cory Kauffman, Eric Schumacher, Tyler Roth, Michael Bernhard, Mark Smith, Ashley McEwen, Michael Rhoda, Phillip Rich, Brock Norris, Michael Lauher

Commodity Marketing Expertise

Kevin Meiss, Keith Waterman, Eric Schumacher, Michael Rhoda, Dan Patten, Ashten Masching

Other Experience

Agricultural Education - John Tammen
Public Accounting - Craig Thompson
Agricultural Lending - Joe Richie
Grain Merchandising - Ashten Masching, Michael Rhoda

Practical Agronomy Experience

Kevin Hilligoss, Dan Patten, Tyler Roth, Keith Waterman, Justin Wheeler, Phillip Rich, Ashely McEwen, Bailey Reynolds, Hayley Daniels, Brock Norris, Tom Hill

First Mid Ag Services Staff

At First Mid Ag Services, we recognize that our greatest strength is our people! We are the largest manager of cropland in Illinois because we understand that no matter how many farms we manage, the most important farm to you is yours.

First Mid Ag Services strongly supports the American Society of Farm Managers and Rural Appraisers (ASFMRA) and its Illinois Chapter, the Illinois Society of Professional Farm Managers and Rural Appraisers (ISPFMRA), the Realtors Land Institute (RLI) and the American Society of Agronomy (ASA). These professional organizations promote education, and ethics among its members and gives voice to landowners to be heard in Washington & Springfield.

These organizations offers accreditation for their members. These professional designations of Accredited Farm Manager, Accredited Rural Appraiser, Accredited Land Consultant, and Certified Crop Advisor recognize the highest standards of achievement in our industry.

Our Accredited Farm Managers

Kevin Meiss
John Tammen
Mark Smith
Brian Thompson
Keith Waterman
Cory Kauffman
Craig Thompson
Eric Schumacher

Chad Hoke
David Klein
Dan Patten
Don McCabe
Casey Watson
Justin Wheeler
Tom Hill
Joseph Richie
Michael Lauher

Our Accredited Rural Appraisers

Brian Thompson

Other Accreditations

Dan Patten, Tyler Roth, Ashley McEwen, Tom Hill, and Hayley Daniels are Certified Crop Advisors, a designation of the American Society of Agronomy (ASA). The ASA is dedicated to the development of agriculture enabled by science, in harmony with environmental and human values.

Brian Thompson and Cory Kauffman are Illinois State Certified General Real Estate Appraiser. To attain this certification, managers must meet stringent education and experience requirements.

Eric Schumacher and Michael Lauher are Illinois Associate Real Estate Trainee Appraisers.

David Klein, Craig Thompson, Keith Waterman, and Michael Lauher are also Accredited Land Consultants with the Realtors' Land Institute. This accreditation requires 120 credits of education and over $5,000,000 in sales experience.

Craig Thompson is an Illinois Licensed Certified Public Accountant. Maintenance of this certification requires 120 hours of continuing professional educations every three years.

David Klein and Justin Wheeler are Illinois licensed auctioneers.  David Klein is also an Indiana licensed auctioneer.

David Klein, Tyler Roth, Justin Wheeler, Michael Bernhard, Eric Schumacher, Michael Rhoda hold a Commercial Remote Pilot license.

David Klein, Cory Kauffman, Kevin Meiss, and Eric Schumacher are Illinois Licensed Fire and Casualty Insurance Producers.  This license allows the licensee to market and sell Fire and Casualty Insurance, including Crop Insurance.

John Tammen is a licensed real estate Broker in Indiana.

David Klein is a licensed real estate Broker in Iowa.

Craig Thompson is a licensed real estate broker in South Dakota.

Ross Perkins is a licensed real estate broker in Arkansas

Our Real Estate Associates

Chad Hoke
Garrett Schoenholz
Don McCabe
Chris Kolodziej
Aaron Benoit
Justin Wood
Steve Jacob
Ross Perkins
John Tammen
Daniel Moehring