MacKenzie Thornburg
Appraisal Trainee | Larned Office

My name is MacKenzie Thornburg, and I just finished my spring internship at High Plains Farm Credit.

I grew up in Great Bend, Kansas and headed to college right after high school. In college I was on the Livestock Judging Team and involved in Block and Bridle, Colligate Farm Bureau, and a senator for Student Government Association. I graduated from Fort Hays State University (Go tigers!) with a B.S in Agricultural Business in May 2018. In my spare time I enjoy music, judging livestock and horse shows, helping my family with cattle and riding horses.

I initially applied for the summer internship with High Plains Farm Credit last summer, but due to the merger, they did not have a summer internship program.  That didn’t stop me though. I called regularly just to keep my foot in the door and in August they had a position for me. My project was collecting Parcel Numbers for required IRS reporting on mortgage interest form 1098. I finished in December and in January they turned my job into an Appraisal Internship. I learned programs like AgWare Datalog, Clickforms, and AgriData. I also learned how to plat the subject land and choose comparable sales. I came to understand the three approaches to value and concepts like highest and best use.

Over the last two semesters I’ve learned so much about the appraisal process. I get the opportunity to continue learning as I am now a full-time appraisal trainee upon my graduation from FHSU. I will be moving to the Larned office starting May 21st.  I am fortunate to have found this great company and I am immensely excited to work for High Plains Farm Credit.  Thank you for the opportunity!