First Mid Staff - Peoria, IL
Casey Watson
Peoria Regional Office Manager
Phone: (309) 687-6009
Email: Casey Watson
Casey is the Regional Manager of the Peoria Office of First Mid Ag Services. He joined First Mid Ag through the acquisition of Soy Capital Ag Services in 2018. Casey is a licensed Illinois Real Estate Broker and holds an Accredited Farm Manager designation. He graduated from Western Illinois University in 2009 with a B.S in Agriculture Science and earned his M.S. in Crop science from the University of Illinois in 2018. He has spent time working within the seed industry on both the production and research end of row crops. Casey also spent a few years in retail agriculture working directly with the producer for farm inputs and recommendations.
Ashley Shafer
Farm Management and Brokerage - Peoria
Phone: (309) 687-6007
Email: Ashley Shafer
Ashley is an Assistant Vice President/ Farm Manager with First Mid Ag Services and works out of the Peoria Office where she serves clients through the management, sales and acquisition of farmland as a licensed Illinois Real Estate Broker. She graduated from the University of Illinois in 2018 with a Bachelor of Science Degree in Agricultural and Consumer Economics concentrating on Agri-Business – Markets and Management. While working, she earned a Master’s Degree in Crop Science from the University of Illinois in 2020. Ashley also holds the Certified Crop Advisor (CCA) designation from the American Society of Agronomy. She grew up on a family farm in Western IL working with livestock and row crops. Her prior experience includes working in the seed industry as a Key Account Specialist. In that seed industry role, Ashley made direct corn/soybean product recommendations and sales to customers, and assisted them with digital ag technologies.
