Farming is what Gilbert Hennenfent knows. Right after college, Hennenfent began farming his own ground, tended to cattle, and obtained a real estate license to eventually manage other farming operations and bring several businesses to the Monmouth community. After working in the agriculture industry for over 60 years, Hennenfent reflects back as he transitions into retirement:
“My first year of farming was 1960. On our 160-acre farm, we had a combined corn, beans, oats, and clover rotation and we fed cattle. That operation through the years grew to feeding 500 head of cattle out and 1,500 acres,” says Hennenfent.
“The other part of my background, around 1977, a Canton attorney called me and asked if I could manage a farm for their client Raymond Putnam. I started managing that farm and in about five years, I picked up another four or five to manage. I realized that to manage farms in Illinois a person was required to have a real estate license. So, I received my real estate license early on and I actually worked with Monmouth Farm and Home Realty for the first five years I worked in real estate,” Hennenfent recalls.
Back in 2015, Hennenfent brought in local farmer Adam Martin to take over the operation who contacted Jared Kunkle to co-manage. Today, Martin and Kunkle are co-owners of Land Management Partners, where they continue the farm management operation that Hennenfent began.
