INA, Ill. (Sep. 5, 2023)—The Young Farmers and Ranchers Grant Workshop hosted Mark Kabat of Farm Credit Illinois brought local high school and college students to the Rend Lake College campus to learn the importance of business management in farming.
Featured in photo: Mark Kabat of Farm Credit Illinois introducing the workshop overview.
The YFR Grant Workshop went over lessons such as how to manage balance sheets, loan programs, and also the Farm Credit Young Farmer Program “Fresh Roots,” along with FSA loan structure.
Kabat graduated from RLC with an associate degree in agriculture business, Southern Illinois University in Carbondale with a Bachelor of Science in Agribusiness Economics, and Graduate of Banking at Colorado. He is the Regional Manager for the Mt. Vernon Branch of Farm Credit Illinois where he is responsible for eight counties. He has worked for Farm Credit a total of 16 years and for Peoples National Bank for 19 years. He and his wife, Lori, have three grown children.
The workshop was organized by Kabat and Ed Billingsley, RLC part-time agriculture instructor, who both recognized the value in teaching young people how to manage a business and loans. Kabat said that it’s well worth the time and effort to understand a business plan. The workshop was geared towards young farmers who are interested in going into Agriculture Business or acquiring their own farm, but they are also valuable life skills for anyone from all different walks of life to know.
The core values of Farm Credit Illinois involve helping farm families succeed, and that includes assisting the next generation of farmers to succeed as well. Kabat was happy to have reached students, primarily seniors, from the surrounding area who can take the lessons learned in the workshop and apply them to their lives moving forward in finance management.
High school students were brought in from Mt. Vernon and West Frankfort. John Kabat, MVTHS Agriculture Instructor, said that student response was overwhelmingly positive. He said that they enjoyed it and reviewed the material together as a class after the workshop. He thought it was a big help to students who were interested in farming, owning a business, or anyone interested in managing their own life. Josh Billingsley, West Frankfort Agriculture Instructor, said that his students loved it and would be willing to go back to the RLC campus to learn more. He thought the workshop provided valuable real-world experience that could be applied to anyone, not just Agriculture Business majors.
Overall, the workshop was a success. Both the students and the instructors found the information to be invaluable. Kabat said that he would be willing to present more workshops at RLC in the future.