2025review

Verslues retires, Huffman takes the helm

As MFA’s 2025 fiscal year came to a close, so did the 38-year career of President and CEO Ernie Verslues. He retired Sept. 1 after spending nearly three decades in various accounting and financial roles and another 10 years at the cooperative’s helm. Succeeding him as MFA’s ninth CEO is Bob Huffman, a Missouri native who has an extensive background in cooperative leadership, most recently at First District Association in Minnesota. Huffman spent the first few months in his new role learning the intricacies of the MFA system, visiting as many locations as possible and engaging one-on-one with employees and members of the MFA Incorporated board.

West Central joins the co-op family

All five West Central AGRIServices (WCAS) locations—Adrian, Centerview, Chilhowee, Harrisonville and Rich Hill—officially became part of MFA Incorporated’s cooperative business in 2025. The move is part of ongoing efforts to align operations for the future and demonstrate MFA’s commitment to the co-op model. WCAS was formed in 1999 as a strategic alliance with Central Cooperative and became a wholly owned subsidiary of MFA Incorporated in 2004, operated as a non-cooperative business. Now, WCAS customers can earn membership in MFA, unlocking benefits such as patronage opportunities, voting rights and eligibility for tax advantages
available only through cooperatives.

Beef boom benefits cattle producers

The beef business continues to be the bright spot in American agriculture, with no end in sight for record-high cattle prices. Cattle inventories stayed low throughout the past year, while beef demand remains strong. In 2025, MFA strengthened its commitment to serving the livestock sector with significant upgrades at the Maryville, Bethany, Alma, Mountain Grove, St. Genevieve and MFA corporate feed mills. In Farm Supply and Animal Health divisions, a distribution partnership with K&K Supply is also streamlining logistics and procurement to improve service and efficiency.

New agronomy hub boosts efficiency

MFA’s latest agronomy center opened this past summer in Macon, Mo. The 6,700-ton facility is more than three times the size of the old fertilizer plant and features a declining weight blending system that provides high accuracy, efficiency and speed. A 24-ton tender truck can be loaded in eight to 10 minutes, compared to about 45 minutes, while semis that once took nearly an hour to unload now do so in under 10 minutes. The entire system can be controlled from a mobile tablet, allowing the plant operator to multi-task duties anywhere in and around the facility. These efficiencies allow MFA to move more loads per day, experience less downtime for spreaders and cover more acres. 

Big yields cap a tough row-crop year

The row-crop sector faced significant challenges in 2025, including high input costs, volatile weather and tight margins. Despite these pressures, growers demonstrated resilience and innovation, leveraging improved genetics, precision technology and strong management practices to achieve record-breaking yields. According to USDA’s World Agricultural Supply and Demand Estimates (WASDE) report released on Jan. 12, production of U.S. corn averaged 186.5 bushels per acre and soybeans 53 bushels per acre this past growing season. If not for seasonal setbacks, the 2025 corn and soybean crops could have been even larger.

MFA Rewards turn purchases into perks

With last year’s launch of MFA Rewards, customers can turn their everyday purchases into valuable points and savings. The pilot program focused on cattle feed and row-crop seed in 2025, and, after a positive response from customers, additional rewards opportunities will be available in 2026. The program is powered by MFA Connect, which is where customers can sign up and then track and redeem points. The Rewards program is a way for MFA to say “thank you” to loyal customers and provide added value to the items they already purchase and use for their farming operations.