A recent state audit found that some Missouri feed formulators have sold products deficient in label-listed ingredients. MFA has consistently scored high in compliance for label accuracy.

In October, State Auditor Claire McCaskill released a performance audit on the Missouri Department of Agriculture's oversight for manufacture and distribution of commercial feed products. As a result of the audit, McCaskill reported to the governor that there was a need for closer control of ingredient-deficient feed. The report said that sales of over 6.5 million pounds in deficient (lacking total labeled nutrients) feed products were sold in calendar years 2000 and 2001.

Along with the audit came plenty of publicity from local and regional press outlets. Some feed companies scrambled to provide information to bring context to the audit.

MFA was awarded the "Excellence in Compliance" award from the state each year for the last three.

"MFA has been marketing quality livestock feeds for Midwest producers since the 1920s," said Joe Powell, vice president, MFA feed division. "Our quality control practices ensure that our manufactured products meet our stringent standards for feed tag listings."

In 2001, MFA achieved a 92.6 percent compliance rate. At press time, figures for 2002 weren't available.

Powell said that MFA will continue to monitor quality control efforts for feed tag compliance and that supplying high-quality, dependable feed to MFA's customer/owners is the cooperative's ultimate goal in the feed business.

Perfect mix is myth
MFA pushes for the perfect formulation in an imperfect world of mill mechanics and commodity ingredients. But the perfect formulation, the one that hits every measure on the tag to an exact percentage, is nearly impossible.

"What the yellow sheet does not take into consideration," said Powell, who is an engineer, "is that a 'perfect mix' exists in theory only and is not possible with the equipment and feed ingredients available to the industry today." Powell pointed out that mills must deal with ingredients of different particle size, densities and adhesiveness. Each formulation reacts differently in the mixer and the downstream conveying systems and bins.

Moreover, when dealing with formulating to a narrow range of nutritional value, the variability of nutrition in the raw commodity must be considered. "Nutritional values of any ingredient can vary from one load to the next," said Powell. "That's why MFA and all reputable feed mixers over-formulate to assure fair value to their customers and to achieve a high compliance rate on state inspections."