AG Co-op Services, Inc. is a farmer-owned organization. The Tipton co-op held its first meeting on January 25, 1975 at the Farmers and Sportsmen Club. They began selling Common Stock Shares and a follow-up meeting was held in June.

Ten acres of ground were purchased from David Claas and construction began on July 1, 1975. An office building with storage for feed, fertilizer and chemicals was built and a bulk fertilizer plant was constructed. It has storage capacity for 30,000 gallon of LP, 20,000-gallon diesel, and 40,000 gallon gasoline.

Business got underway and open house was held on December 10, 1975. There are now five full-time employees to serve this area.

Pat Snorgrass is the manager.

M.F.A. Cooperative Association organized as a stock company in 1919. The first personnel listing was in the 1928 audit; it showed C.M. Ferguson as manager.

On January 6, 1936, at the regular stockholders meeting, the cooperative was changed to a non-stock association by a vote of 53 for and seven against. There were 35 stockholders and the proposition carried.

Other managers have been : John Sanders, Clint Akin, and H.E. Haldiman. Dan Oligschlaeger, the present manager, assumed the position on March 31, 1963.

MFA Plant Foods began operation in August, 1971. Don Basinger is the manager. Located west of Tipton on Highway 50, they sell bulk fertilizer and anhydrous ammonia.

The Wilson Hog Market on South Highway 5 began operation December 1, 1975. Ed Cokert manages the market for Wilson and Company of Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.

The hogs bought at Tipton are shipped to the company's plant at Marshall, Missouri. The market expects to purchase 16,000 to 20,000 hogs each year.

The M.F.A. Hog Market started in 1958 with Charles Stephens as the first manager. The present buyer-manager is David Benjamin.

Through the Missouri Farmers Asso­ciation, hogs are bought daily and shipped to packers around the United States. Approximately 40,000 hogs per year move through the Tipton market.

It is now located on Highway 50 about two miles east of Tipton.