• Location: Sarcoxie, Mo.
• Owners: Lance and Andrea Colley
History: Lance Colley and his grandfather, Champ Colley, started Colley Feed and Farm Supply in 2004.
Lance said the idea came after seeing the variation in feed prices.
“I could buy bagged feed off a pallet for one price, then five or six days later, the same feed off the same pallet, and it would be $1 a bag higher. I asked why because it was the same feed and why is it different? I was told the Chicago Board of Trade went up, so the feed went up. I thought that was wrong, and I started a feed store. Unless our input costs change, the price of our feed doesn’t change, regardless of the markets.”
The original idea was to offer friends and neighbors feed at a low cost, and the Colleys hoped the new business would help them offset the cost of feeding their own cows.
As the business grew, Champ turned the reins over the Lance in about 2007.
“He’s still here every day,” Lance said of his grandfather. “He’s still a big part of what we do.”
Products and Services: Colley Feed and Farm Supply makes one feed – the Colley Mix.
“We physically go get products from the manufacturers, and I truck it in myself; we blend it, package it and sell it all in-house,” Lance said. “It’s guaranteed 16-percent protein, 5-percent fat all stock feed. It has Cheerios, Fruit Loops, cashews, peanuts, dried distillers and peanut hull pellets. We get all of these byproducts from these manufacturers and blend it to make a really good, highly-digestible feed.”
Lance said the feed, which he developed and tested himself, has a TDN of nearly 80 percent.
The Colley Mix is available for pickup at the store.
While the Colley Mix is a big seller for the store, the Colleys also grow and sell hay, and they keep the same lowest-price possible philosophy with their hay sales.
“My grandpa always told me you can make a quick buck today or you can make 50 cents forever.”
Additionally, Colley Feed and Farm Supply offers haying products.
“We keep a bunch of generic supplies,” Lance said, adding that they have net wrap, bailing twine and other products.
