Ernie Verslues, president and CEO of MFA, Inc., received CAFNR’s 2024 Mumford Award for Distinguished Service as part of the Celebration of Excellence awards ceremony April 16.  

Verslues, who has been part of MFA, Inc., for nearly 40 years, places a high priority on partnering with CAFNR and helping to educate the agricultural community. He served as Professor-for-a-Day and Executive-in-Residence for CAFNR students and led a joint effort between MFA, Inc., MFA Oil, and the MFA Foundation to fund an endowed professorship in the Division of Applied Social Sciences.  

He also serves on the boards of the CAFNR Foundation, the Missouri 4-H Foundation and CAFNR’s Graduate Institute of Cooperative Leadership (GICL). In 2018, he was recognized for his many contributions to CAFNR as an Honorary Alumnus. 

“The relationship between CAFNR and MFA, Inc. is a long one, and Ernie has expanded on his predecessors’ commitment to agricultural education in Missouri,” said nominator Harvey James, director and professor, Division of Applied Social Sciences. “Ernie gives generously of his time to meet with students, to host ag business classes at MFA, Inc., to match students with appropriate MFA staff for research opportunities and to contribute industry expertise and leadership for both student-facing and executive education programming.”  

“A true servant-leader, Ernie demonstrates time and again his commitment to such programs by supporting his employees and farmer-directors in their participation in GICL,” said Keri L. Jacobs, GICL executive director. “Despite the unending obligations that come with being President & CEO of a century-strong, top 35 agricultural cooperative in the country, Ernie generously gives of his personal time to support GICL.”