Celebration of cooperation

Like many MFA locations in the early years, Produce Exchange No. 299 in Golden City, Mo., was literally a “produce exchange” where farmers could market their products in addition to purchasing farm supplies. At the centennial celebration, longtime member Mike Queen displayed this vintage wagon that his grandfather used to haul eggs to the exchange back in the day.October is Co-op Month, celebrated nation­wide to spotlight the many ways cooperatives create shared prosperity for their members and commu­nities. MFA was organized as a cooperative in 1914 by a visionary group of farmers who recognized the benefit of working together to leverage buying pow­er and their collective voices. MFA continues to op­erate under that business model, with an extensive network of company-owned retail facilities and local affiliate co-ops serving some 45,000 farmer-owners in Missouri and surrounding states.

MFA and its local affiliates have always worked to benefit our communities, making agricultural goods and services accessible to farmers and rural residents in the area. Co-op Month is the perfect time to con­gratulate MFA’s four local cooperatives that reached an important milestone in their history this year—100 years of service. Listed with their incorporation date, those co-ops are:

• March 20, 1922 — MFA Cooperative Association No. 280, Freeburg, Mo.
• July 12, 1922 — MFA Cooperative Association, St. Elizabeth, Mo.
• Aug. 16, 1922 — Produce Exchange No. 299, Golden City, Mo.
• Oct. 19, 1922 — Farmers Cooperative Association No. 301, Sullivan, Mo.