Co-Owner and Managing Broker
I am 33 year old farmer operating in west-central (Alexis) Illinois. I represent the fourth generation of Martin’s to work the land and be a steward of the environment in northern Warren County. I graduated from Alexis High School in the spring of 1998. The following fall I enrolled at Carl Sandburg College where I received my Associates in Science degree. In the fall of 2000 I transferred to the University of Illinois and graduated in the spring of 2002 with my Bachelors Degree majoring in Crop Science with a concentration in Agribusiness.
I married my wife, Julie in the summer of 2006. She and I have three children Aiden (8), Peyton (6) and Laikyn (3). The addition of the real estate business has allowed her to quit her teaching job and be at home full time, which we both enjoy very much.
I have been farming with my father since graduation of college in 2002. In the meantime, I met Gilbert Hennenfent who at the time was a retired farmer with a small farm management business. He inquired if I were interested in working into his farm management business and taking it over. I viewed it as an excellent opportunity so we proceeded into business together. I worked to get my Illinois Real Estate License as well as my Managing Broker License which allows me to be the managing broker of the real estate business. After two years in the business with Gilbert, I brought on Jared Kunkle as a co-owner and we rebranded the business Land Management Partners, LLC, which is where we are today.
I have an affinity for agriculture so it makes perfect sense that I enjoy managing farmland, working with landowners and tenants. More than that, I appreciate working with tenants to improve the productivity of the land and increasing profits for the landowner. On more than one farm, we have made improvements that increased productivity, while helping the owner take advantage of tax breaks that are offered for certain improvements. For farms that are in families for generations, this type of upgrade makes sense in many ways as it allows capital to grow and be preserved by putting it into the land, while avoiding income taxes and increasing the value of the property.