Our Associates

Mobile: 319-270-6975

Steve began his 33-year financial services career immediately upon graduation from Coe College in Cedar Rapids, Iowa in 1992.  He achieved a B. A. degree, Magna Cum Laude, with a double major of Economics and Business Administration. 

As a native Iowan, born and raised on his families’ farm in nearby Wellman, Iowa his heritage was deeply engaged in agriculture.  In 1994, Steve founded Farm Financial Strategies, Inc. (FFS), a program to offer strategies to ‘preserve the family farm’. 

Today FFS has 13 associates and does business in 7 Midwestern states.  While saving estate shrinkage was the original mission, keeping countless numbers of farms in the family has been the driving force behind day to day operations. 

Steve is one of three founding partners in a new firm called Next Gen Ag Advocates, Ltd. Where FFS is positioned to transition operating farms within the family, Next Gen’s mission is to match inheriting or retiring land owners with an outside the family producer to operate the farm. 

Steve has served as President of Cedar Rapids Association of Insurance and Financial Advisors.  He also served on the board of directors for the Iowa FFA Foundation and Coe College’s Board of Visitors.  He currently writes a popular column on farm transition and succession strategies the Iowa Farmer Today, Illinois Farmer Today and Missouri Farmer Today publications.   

Steve is active at his church and owns and operates his family farm operation in southeast Iowa.  He is married to his college sweetheart, Jennifer.  They are the proud parents of Brody (age 27), twins Baxter and Ayva (age 23). 

*Steve Bohr is not affiliated with LPL Financial.

myron.friesen@lpl.com for securities business

Mobile: 641-220-1945

Myron’s farming roots start on the family farm in Mountain Lake, MN.  He began his own livestock ownership as a 7^th grader and has owned land or livestock ever since.  He graduated from South Dakota State University in 1989 and spent the next 11 years as an Ag Teacher and FFA Advisor in Osage, Iowa while growing his own farm in the Osage area.

In 2000, Myron transitioned from teaching to farm transition planning.  He knew this was a calling as he observed serious turmoil when both sides of his grandparents passed away.  Both of those farms and families were bitterly divided.  He has a passion to help other families avoid those issues .

Myron is the Co-Owner of Farm Financial Strategies, Inc., a company that specializes in developing estate and transition strategies for farm families across the Midwest.  An important goal is to take farm families all the way from the start of the process through the “finish line” by getting coordinated documents signed and properly communicated.

In addition, Myron is the Co-Owner of Farm Estate GPS which is designed to provide unbiased education to any farm family.  This web-based information focuses on key terms, topics and teaching in both written and video format that subscribers can access anytime to help them take a next step in their planning or to stay aware of relevant estate planning topics available to enhance their existing plans.

Myron currently owns and operates 940 acres of continuous corn and has contracts for both nursery and finishing pigs.  He also currently writes a popular farm transition column for both Successful Farming magazine and AgWeek.

He lives on his farm north of Osage, Iowa with his wife, Lisa.  They have 4 children, Alexa (25), Tyler (23), and twin girls Emily and Ellie (20).  Myron and his family have all been very active in athletics, their church and other mission projects.

Myron is a Registered Representative of LPL Financial.

travis.harris@lpl.com for securities business

Alt Phone: 866-853-1626

Travis Harris (Bloomfield, IA) has worked with farm families since 1999. Travis is involved with a 700 acre row crop and cow calf family farm operation in Moulton, Iowa.

Travis is a Registered Representative of LPL Financial.

Ken Kruger (DeWitt, IA) started with Farm Financial Strategies in 2003 after an enjoyable career with the Farm Service Agency. Ken grew up on a family dairy farm near Waukon, Iowa. Ken has been working with farm families ever since graduating from the University of Iowa in 1980, starting as the Executive Director for the Wayne County ASCS office in Corydon before moving to the same position in Clinton County after being in Corydon for one year. In 2000, Ken ventured out on his own to learn the workings of a life insurance company until starting with Farm Financial Strategies in 2003.

Also during this time, Ken studied for and attained his Certified General Appraiser's license for the State of Iowa and now specializes in farm appraisals as an independent appraiser in eastern Iowa. He is a member of the American Society of Farm Managers and Rural Appraisers.

Ken married his wife, Kristen, in 1985 and together enjoy their growing family with both daughters married and two active grandchildren.

Ken is not affiliated with LPL Financial.

mark.mclaughlin@lpl.com for securities business

Mobile: 515-419-5211

Mark grew up near Defiance, IA and joined Farm Financial Strategies in 2005 after his family went through their planning process.  Being the off-farm heir, with a farming brother, and a brother with special needs, he saw the value of having a solid plan in place.  He’s helped farm families design their own customized strategies ever since.

Prior to 2005, Mark was an engineer. He tested design concepts at the manufacturing level and resolved customer issues.  He graduated from Iowa State University with a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering in 1998.  Engineering taught him systematic problem-solving skills which he now uses to keep farms in the family.

Farm succession hit Mark on a personal level when his dad died in a farm accident in 2008, and his grandma passed away eight years later.  He credits his family and the proactive estate strategies for growing the farm through five generations.  Mark owns farm land and bought into a hog operation with his farming brother through these strategies. 

Mark is a co-founder of Farm Estate GPS along with Myron Friesen.  Farm Estate GPS is an online resource designed to help families understand their options and make informed decisions for their estate and farm succession strategies, all at a pace that works for them. 

Mark is a contributing columnist for Successful Farming Magazine.  He also loves to serve through his church, coaching, and faith-based youth programs.  He likes to say he lives in Ankeny, IA because it strategically provides interstate access for his Midwest clients.  However, the truth is that his wife is from Ankeny, and there’s no place he would rather be than with her and their three above average kids!

Mark is an Advisory Representative of LPL Financial.

Mobile: 712-420-4048

Rick Wiggs (Whiting, IA) has been with Farm Financial Strategies since 2001. Rick was raised on a 2500 acre grain farm in Sloan, IA. He has a degree in Economics and Business Administration and resides in Whiting with his wife and three children.

Rick is not affiliated with LPL Financial.