
Murray Wise
Chairman & CEO
murray@mwallc.com
(217) 398-6400
About Murray
Murray’s entrepreneurial spirit has defined his career; he founded Westchester in 1986 after acquiring the Champaign, IL division of the Sandage Companies. Murray transformed Westchester Group, Inc. from a small farmland investment firm into an industry-leading agricultural land asset management company. In 2010, Murray and the team sold the agricultural asset management division of WGI to TIAA-CREF. The Iowa farm real estate and management office, MWA Capital, and the land auction division of Westchester Group, Inc. subsequently formed Murray Wise Associates, LLC.
Murray attended Iowa State University, receiving a B.S. in Agriculture before returning to Southern Ontario to continue farming at the onset of his career. He also received a MBA from the University of Illinois and has received an honorary degree from Parkland College.
His passion for and knowledge of farmland investments has been the most important factor in his continued success. Murray has been honored with the V Dale Cozad award for his achievements in entrepreneurship in Champaign, IL. He has written two books on the subject of investing in farmland, and has been a guest speaker at Iowa State University, University of Illinois, Purdue University, and Parkland College. In 1998, he founded the Murray Wise Foundation which provides scholarships to students studying agriculture in higher education.

Eric Sarff
President
eric@mwallc.com
(217) 840-0454
About Eric
Prior to joining MWA, Eric was the director of acquisitions and management for the Midwest for Farmland Partners, Inc. where he oversaw a seven-state region and managed nearly 50,000 acres, including both row crops and specialty crops. He also directed multiple acquisitions, including a 22,000-acre purchase in Illinois. Before that, Eric was the Vice President at The Loranda Group, Inc. where he supervised the marketing for Midwest auction and brokerage sales.
Eric is a licensed real estate broker and auctioneer. He received his B.S. in Agribusiness, Farm and Financial Management from the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign. He has completed a number of professional development courses and was a member of the 2011 class for the Illinois Farm Bureau Ag Leaders of Tomorrow (ALOT).

Jeff Wright
Chief Operating Officer
jeff@mwallc.com
(217) 352-6012
About Jeff
Jeff is responsible for the financial statements, budgeting, accounting, and banking relationships for the MWA group of companies. His administers and oversees the financials for the MWA employee’s retirement plan and the MWA Foundation, as well as for more than 60 farms owned by MWA clients. He is responsible for maintaining the regulatory reporting requirements in each state where MWA is active. Jeff also provides leadership for daily administration items such as maintaining employee records & benefits, corporate building leases, corporate insurance, and more. Jeff draws off of his past experience in multi-location work environments to manage communication and information flow that enhances corporate cohesion between operating and geographic divisions alike.
He received a B.S. in Accounting from Illinois State University.

John Kirkpatrick
Executive Vice President
john@mwallc.com
(515) 851-1424
About John
Kirkpatrick’s accomplishments can be attributed to relationships he has developed throughout the Midwest and his commitment to individual buyers and sellers. John specializes in farmland marketing through private treaty and public auction, farmland acquisition for institutional investors, livestock facility sales and acquisition, tax exchanges, and feedlot layout. He currently manages over $200M of land in Iowa and Illinois and has bought, sold, and managed hundreds of thousands of acres of agricultural properties during his tenure with MWA, building relationships across the country.
John is an Accredited Land Consultant (ALC). Kirkpatrick is a Member of the National Association of Realtors and the Iowa Association of Realtors. He is a licensed Real Estate Broker in Iowa, Minnesota, South Dakota, Wyoming, North Carolina, Tennessee, Arkansas and Oklahoma.

Harrison Freeland
Vice President
harrison@mwallc.com
(217) 493-2317
About Harrison
Harrison is in charge of compiling the information and developing the property investment reports for the properties MWA manages. He is also a licensed drone pilot and is responsible for filming; analyzing aerial footage of properties that MWA acquires, manages and sells.
Harrison is a licensed real estate broker. He received his B.S in Business Administration with a specialization in Finance from Illinois Wesleyan University.

Elizabeth Strom
Vice President
liz@mwallc.com
(309) 238-1360
About Elizabeth
Prior to joining MWA, she served as a Professional Farm Manager and Real Estate Broker for Hertz Farm Management Inc. where she managed nearly 19,000 acres across the state of Illinois. She has collaborated with farmers and landowners to meet the owners goals and financial objectives. Elizabeth also bought and sold farmland across the Midwest for her clients.
Elizabeth is an Accredited Farm Manager (AFM). Elizabeth serves on local boards for American Society of Farm Managers and Rural Appraisers and is on the Board of Directors for the Illinois Realtors Land Institute. She is a licensed Real Estate Broker in Illinois and Iowa, an Illinois licensed auctioneer and licensed drone pilot. She grew up on a corn, soybean and cattle farm in Toulon, Illinois. Elizabeth received her Associates from Black Hawk Community College. She further continued on to receive her B.S. in Agricultural Business and Agronomy from Iowa State University in Ames, Iowa.

Adam Meyer
Vice President
adam.meyer@mwallc.com
(319) 415-9651
About Adam
Adam graduated from Iowa State University in the Spring of 2007 with a B.S. in Agricultural Systems Technology. After college Adam worked for multiple John Deere dealerships as well as the John Deere Waterloo factory in Customer Support. Adam’s industry experience in the precision agriculture field helped him to gain extensive knowledge necessary for his career. Prior to working for Murray Wise Associates, Adam was a farm manager and real estate salesperson for Hertz Farm Management.
Adam is a licensed Real Estate Salesperson in Iowa, as well as an Accredited Farm Manager. In addition to working at MWA, Adam also actively farms and lives near Dike, Iowa with his wife Meghan, and three kids Leah, Hank, and Myla. Adam hopes to continue to help clients achieve their goals while growing his passion for agriculture.

Clayton Miller
Senior Associate
clayton.miller@mwallc.com
(217) 254-1151
About Clayton
Prior to joining Murray Wise Associates, Clayton was studying at Illinois Wesleyan University in Bloomington, IL where he earned his degree in accounting. He is a native of Central Illinois and he grew up on a family farm just outside of Arcola. Clayton has deep ties to the local community and is very passionate about agriculture.

Kyle Worner
Senior Associate
kyle.worner@mwallc.com
(309) 657-8648
About Kyle
Kyle grew up on a farm in Mason County, Illinois where he was involved in an operation that grew a variety of crops. Because of his upbringing, Kyle has experience with crops such as corn, soybeans, seed corn, green beans, and pumpkins. Kyle graduated from the University of Illinois at Champaign-Urbana in May of 2022 with a Bachelor’s Degree of Finance in Agribusiness. Prior to joining the team at MWA, Kyle was a grain merchandiser in Kearney, Nebraska and Wichita, Kansas.

Jamie Knight
Executive Assistant, Florida Office Manager
jamie@mwallc.com
(239) 430-6240
About Jamie
Jamie is a licensed real estate broker in Florida and Illinois.

Dawn Waters
Real Estate Coordinator, Iowa Office Manager
dawn@mwallc.com
(515) 532-2878
About Dawn
Dawn is a licensed real estate broker in Iowa.