Feature

As Missouri’s only commercial grass-based sheep dairy and creamery, Green Dirt Farm creates award-winning artisanal cheeses It’s a little after 5:30 on a Thursday afternoon, and already the “girls” are a bit restless. There is comfort in routine for this mixed flock of Lacaune and East Friesian dairy ewes, and […]

MFA Oil Declares $6.5 Million in Cash Distributions for Member-Owners The Polar Vortex of 2021 plunged nearly every state in the country into a deep freeze with snow, ice storms and record-cold temperatures. The historic, prolonged Arctic blast created energy supply disruptions, the largest surge in propane demand in 17 […]

Young farmers from Missouri, Arkansas and Kansas gathered in Osage Beach, Mo., on Jan. 11-13, 2022, for the inaugural Emerging Leaders in Agriculture Conference cohosted by MFA Oil and MFA Incorporated. The two-day, all-expenses-paid event brought together farmers who will lead the next generation of agricultural production with industry experts […]

The Paris (Mo.) FFA chapter won the National Model of Excellence, the award for the top chapter in the country, at the National FFA Convention in Indianapolis in October 2021. How do you become No. 1 among nearly 9,000 chapters? By going beyond teaching basic ag and science, bake and […]

After Years of Struggles, One Bootheel Farm Family Found Success Growing Organic Crops In a post-pandemic world, the video teleconference has become an essential tool for conducting business—even for farmers like Steve McKaskle of Braggadocio, Mo. He’s found unique ways to use the technology to his advantage. “We’re going to […]

Investor Seeks to Revitalize Community, Create National Tourism Destination The streets of small-town Augusta, Mo., are bustling with activity in early September. Harvest season for the local vineyards among the rolling hills of the Missouri Rhineland is quickly approaching, and work crews are busy preparing for the annual influx of […]

For millions of years, there has been a night shift at work pollinating flowering plants and fruit trees. But only recently have these workers started to get a little credit for their contributions to agriculture. Moths may not produce a sweet treat like their daytime counterparts, the honeybees, but pollination […]

Kansas State University researchers have completed a study that looks at the potential value of carbon credits—and whether it’s an opportunity for farmers in Kansas to earn some extra income. “There are starting to be a few more concrete opportunities for producers to sign up for carbon credits, and especially […]

Brookfield wins! Brookfield FFA, that is. The prize: a cowbell. Not just any cowbell; the FFA version of the Bell Game prize. The annual Bell Game, between the high school football teams of Brookfield, Mo., and nearby Marceline, is one of the oldest sports rivalries in America. It is called […]

More Than Two Decades Ago, One Southwest Missouri Company Helped Turn an Unwanted Byproduct into a Valued Commodity They say perception is reality. In the late 1990s, the perception among poultry producers was that oak shavings weren’t a good bedding material inside chicken houses. Del Oney didn’t believe that was […]

Smithfield Foods and Roeslein Alternative Energy Partnership Turns Waste into Energy Concentrated animal feeding operations, or CAFOs, have been in the news lately for a variety of reasons. Can these operations be sustainable, create good jobs and benefit the environment, too? Critics would say, “When pigs fly.” A joint venture […]

Through Sept. 15, MFA Oil customers can lock in prices with propane contracts for this coming winter. The MFA Oil Pre-Buy Program allows individuals and businesses to contract a predetermined volume of propane at a set price. Spring and summer are traditionally great times to contract propane. The Pre-Buy Program […]