Mark raises corn and soybeans in Macon County with his father and brother-in-law.  He and his wife, Mindy, have two children.

Mark graduated from Maroa-Forsyth High School before earning a degree in agricultural and consumer economics from the University of Illinois. He built a renewed agriculture education program and FFA Chapter at Maroa-Forsyth High School in 2001 but left teaching in 2004 to farm full time.

Mark has been farming in some capacity since the 1990s, including growing horseradish as a specialty crop from 1991-2008.