Russell Hiatt, AFM, ARA, partner with Hiatt Farmland Services, Champaign, was elected president of the Illinois Society of Professional Farm Managers and Rural Appraisers at the organization’s annual meeting held last week in Bloomington.

Joining in the leadership team are: Michael Lauher, AFM, principle with Rolling Acres Ag Solutions, Savoy, as vice president; Elizabeth Strom, AFM, president-elect and a vice president with Murray Wise Associates, Champaign; Maria Boerngen, Ph.D., academic vice president and associate professor of Agribusiness, Illinois State University, Normal; and; Kent Reid, immediate past president and chief appraiser for Farm Credit Illinois. Gary Schnitkey, Ph.D., ISPFMRA, is secretary/treasurer and a professor of Farm Management, University of Illinois, Urbana.

The Illinois group, founded in 1928, has 259 members serving landowners across the state.