ISPFMRA elects leadership team

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — Members of the Illinois Society of Professional Farm Managers and Rural Appraisers elected a new leadership team during the organization’s annual meeting held Feb. 8 with Elizabeth Strom being named the new president.

Strom is an accredited farm manager with Murray Wise and Associates and is based in Champaign. She had previously served as president-elect and vice president of the chapter.

A native of Toulon, Strom received an associate’s degree from Black Hawk College East Campus in Kewanee and a bachelor’s in agricultural business from Iowa State University. She became a member of the ISPFMRA in 2016.

Other members of the new team are Michael Lauher, First Mid Ag Services, Mattoon, president-elect; and Laura Enger an appraiser with Farm Credit Illinois, Mahomet, vice president. Immediate past president is Russell Hiatt, Hiatt Enterprises, Champaign.

Strom’s first official action was to request that Gary Schnitkey, University of Illinois, continue as secretary/treasurer of the chapter; and Maria Boerngen, Illinois State University, to carry on as academic vice president of the group. The two serve at the request of the board and are not elected.

The ISPFMRA is the oldest of the 28 state chapters of the American Society of Farm Managers and Rural Appraisers. The Illinois group was founded at the U of I campus in 1928 under the leadership of D. Howard Doane.

Current chapter membership is 262 active members with over 40 “friends” of the chapter.

The ISPFMRA is the sponsor of the annual Illinois Land Values and Lease Trends Report. The 2024 report will be released at the annual Illinois Land Values Conference on March 21 in Bloomington.