Momentum

Finding the right MFA Oil lubricant product for vehicles and equipment can now be accomplished within seconds on the MFA Oil website. Lube Advisor, a digital oil and lubricant recommendation tool, is now available to help customers match the right MFA Oil product to their engine based on the year, […]

Milas Mainord has done his fair share of traveling. He’s visited vast oceans and breathtaking mountains, sprawling cities and quaint resorts, towering forests and picturesque prairies. For him, however, none compare to East Prairie, Mo. “My wife, Barbara, and I once took a trip to Monterey, California,” he says. “We […]

On Jan. 20, Joe Biden was inaugurated as the 46th president of the United States of America. While the coronavirus pandemic and the country’s economic situation will dominate much of his early days in office, there are many climate and energy issues Biden addressed through executive actions on day one […]

The MFA Oil lineup of passenger car motor oil (PCMO) products is receiving a new name and look. Moving forward, these products will be sold under the Excede® brand with the tagline “Give it everything.” “Rebranding gives us a more marketable product and helps to set us apart from our […]

If it’s a weed, spray it. That’s the mindset that most in the agriculture industry held for years. That thinking no longer works as more weeds become resistant to herbicides, says Kevin Bradley, University of Missouri Extension weed scientist. Bradley uses waterhemp as an example. Waterhemp is one of 14 […]

The tree dominates the Boone County river bottom, almost 100 feet tall with a canopy even wider and a nearly 24-foot-wide trunk.  This is the U.S. co-champion bur oak, aka the Big Tree. It has survived earthquakes, lightning strikes, floods and droughts in its nearly four centuries. It seems impossible […]

In August 2020, we made a couple of big decisions at MFA Oil. The first was to move forward with a new point-of-sale system called Energy-Force in our bulk fuel and propane division. We chose to go with Energy-Force because of its ease of use; its ability to provide daily […]

MFA Oil Announces $10 Million in Cash Returns to Owners In a year often described as unprecedented and bizarre, it was perhaps fitting that MFA Oil Company reported an extraordinary 2020 during its 91st Annual Delegate Meeting, which was held virtually for the first time in the company’s history due […]

MFA Oil is exploring non-traditional business opportunities that could benefit its members in the future. The Earth is indisputably round. But standing on its surface, the curvature is imperceptible. Just as it’s difficult to recognize the planet’s rounded nature, it can be easy to miss gradual changes that lead to […]

Farmer-owned Peanut-shelling Facility Gives Growers More Control of Their Future Most people wouldn’t be satisfied working for peanuts. Tommy Jumper came out of retirement to do just that. After years of planning and development, Jumper and a group of farmer-investors opened Delta Peanut, the first peanut-shelling cooperative in Arkansas, in […]

Since the day Lester Rufenacht first got his hands in the dirt on his family’s farm in southern Henry County, Mo., he’s found himself drawn to working the land. “I guess it’s in my blood at this point,” Lester says with a laugh. With the exception of a two-year deployment […]

As I write this latest market commentary article in mid-January, we have just gone through some serious geopolitical events in the Middle East. On Jan. 3, the United States launched an attack near the Baghdad International Airport that killed Major General Qassem Soleimani, who was the commander of Iran’s secretive […]

The Columbia Center for Urban Agriculture and Harry S. Truman Veterans’ Hospital have entered into a three-year agreement to use CCUA’s urban farm site at 1209 Smith St. in Columbia to develop a new community space for mid-Missouri veterans. Beginning in the spring of 2020, the two organizations will work […]

Lesley Newsom, ag instructor and FFA advisor for Senath-Hornersville High School in Senath, Mo., keeps busy with lesson planning, teaching topics ranging from plant science to animal husbandry to biotechnology, and even welding and construction. And that’s not counting the fundraising, bus driving, early mornings, after-hours work and weekends she […]

Farmers know that well-maintained equipment is key to success. Yet they often do not listen to the “check engine” warning signs of stress, says Sean Brotherson, family science specialist for North Dakota State University. Brotherson was the keynote speaker at the recent University of Missouri Crop Management Conference. “Ag has […]

In spite of tight profit margins and challenging market conditions, farmland values are up. The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s 2019 Land Values report revealed the average value of agricultural cropland was $4,100 per acre in 2019, up $50 per acre or 1.2% from 2018. The average value of pastureland was […]

It’s late January, and a thick blanket of newly fallen snow covers the rolling farm ground of north Missouri. While it’s been months since Matt and Madison Larkin finished combining corn and soybeans, their harvest continues. Just down the road from the farm in the town of Hamilton, tucked inside […]

For centuries, the barn was the space for celebrating. No matter the occasion — whether it be a birthday, wedding, holiday or even the raising of the barn itself — this place for housing crops and livestock would transform for communal gathering, making way for dancing and merriment. Somewhere along […]