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Upon graduating from the University of Wisconsin - Whitewater, Mark moved to Chicago and began his career in the futures industry in 1990 with the Agricultural Hedging Group at Merrill Lynch. In 1997, Mark earned a Master’s of Science in Financial Markets & Trading from the Illinois Institute of Technology. In 2000 his team moved to Prudential Bache Commodities. Throughout his career he has serviced a wide array of agri-business including farmers, grain elevators, poultry operations, cattle and hogs feeders, seed companies, food manufacturers, and ethanol plants. Mark’s goal is to help clients quantify their risk exposures, assist in determining risk management objectives, and develop strategies that are consistent with their risk tolerances in order to help attain their objectives. In Feb-09 he joined the Archer Financial Services team. Along with their 3 children, Mark and his wife Tracy, reside in the southwest suburbs of Chicago. Most of his free time is spent coaching his children’s baseball and basketball teams.

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Scott Harms is a Ag Risk Specialist with Archer Financial Services. He was raised on a grain and livestock farm in Forest City, a small town located in central Illinois. He attended the University of Illinois in Champaign-Urbana where he received his Bachelor of Science Degree in Agricultural Economics in 1989. Upon graduation Scott moved to Chicago where he began working for Merrill Lynch Futures in their Agricultural Hedging Services area. In 2000, Scott became a partner in the Agricultural Hedging Services at Prudential Securities. In 2008, Scott moved to Archer Financial Services, Inc. which is a wholly owned subsidiary and Guaranteed Introducing Broker of ADM Investor Services, Inc. He currently runs the Agricultural Hedge Marketing Program which is a unique program that assists customers with their marketing by monitoring several advisory services and efficiently initiating their marketing advice on the customers’ behalf. In addition, he works with individual customers as they develop and implement marketing plans that are vital to their success. Scott resides in Chicago’s South Loop neighborhood. Contact Scott at 800-933-3996 or scott.harms@archerfinancials.com

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Meghan joined Pro Farmer in June 2011 and is currently the News Editor. Prior to joining the Pro Farmer team, Meghan worked as an editor at Stocks, Futures and Options (SFO) magazine. During her time there she gained her Series 3 license from the National Futures Association. She is a 2009 Summa Cum Laude graduate of Wartburg College in Waverly, Iowa, with Bachelor of Arts degrees in English and writing. LimelightPlayerUtil.initEmbed(‘limelight_player_28855'); At Pro Farmer, Meghan writes many of the daily market commentaries in addition to website news stories and updates on Washington happenings. She also compiles the quarterly Washington Outlook Report.

Dan Vaught earned Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in Agricultural Economics from the University of Arkansas in 1985 and early 1987, respectively. For his Masters thesis he investigated the potential earnings and risks involved in technically trading a commodity portfolio. He attended the University of Illinois as a recipient of the Jonathan Baldwin Turner fellowship in 1987 and 1988. Dan went to work for A.G. Edwards & Sons as a fundamental analyst in 1990 and took over coverage of livestock futures in late 1991. He took on the added responsibility of covering precious metals in 1997 and copper futures in early 2001. He gave up metals coverage in spring 2007 and took over coverage of the soft commodities at that time. He has routinely been cited in wire service reports and has been quoted in the Wall Street Journal, Chicago Tribune, Barron’s and various agricultural publications. In addition to having appeared on several radio programs, Dan has been interviewed on CNBC, CNN-FN and on The Nightly Business Report on PBS. After A.G. Edwards was taken over by Wachovia Corporation, he left the firm when they eliminated their in-house futures research department. He founded his own firm, Vaught Futures Insights, PLLC, in 2010, then joined Doane Advisory Services when they made him an offer he couldn’t refuse in late 2012. Along with his Doane coworkers, he joined Farm Journal Media and Pro Farmer when a merger was announced in December 2015. He generally uses fundamental analysis, the study of underlying supply and demand factors, in seeking to find market opportunities. In addition, he uses technical analysis, the study of price charts, as a method for timing turning points in the markets.