Our History

Here is a little of our history dating all the way back to the 1800’s! We’ve been serving our customers since 1942 and we’re proud to say so!

• 1899- Alexander Lauf (Founder of Lauf Equipment) is born on Mar 17 in Toas, MO to
  • Henry B ‘Hy’ Lauf (1824-1930) of Taos
  • Catharine (Rehagen) Lauf (1874-1901) of Westphalia
• 1924- Alex Lauf Married “Fronie” Hieronyma Veltrop Nov 24^th
  • Gave birth to 6 kids
• 1926- Harry Ferguson patents the 3-point hitch
• 1929- Great Depression begins
• 1930- Massey-Harris produces the first 4-wheel drive tractor
• 1929 to 1935-  Alex & Fronie live on their farm in Boonville
• 1931- Harold Lauf (2^nd generation owner) is born to Fronie & Alex Lauf on May 11
  • Grace (Vanloo) Lauf-Harold’s wife is born on May 10^th. One year and one day before Harold
• 1936- “We had 4 little kids ..I bought some stock in Heisingers (auto) garage and worked at night for quite a while“-Alex Lauf
  • Worked at the auto garage from 1935-1942
• 1941- Attack on Pearl Harbor Dec 7^th
• 1942- Lauf Equipment starts business
  • “Worked in the (auto) garage about 6 years then war came along—didn’t have no cars, no tires, nothing to sell. So we decided to get into farm machinery” Alex Lauf
  • Located at Mill Bottom in Jeff city
  • We carried Farmall, International Harvester, Case
  • Formerly an international dealer who wanted out of business
  • Alex purchased IH dealer for $9,500.00 with $3,500 down and a $6,000 loan
    • “Bought it for $3,500-He had a couple trucks-bins-machinery-not much, everything was gone during the war. And the next year we got some machinery-“ Alex Lauf
    • Metal rationing during WWII limited tractor production so Alex often sold most of his new inventory right off the rail cars
      • “Had a tablet page full of people that wanted to buy a tractor”-Alex
    • “Stayed there for 7 years-(International Harvester Company) said they should have somebody here who would build a building- I went to Tipton and took the dealership up there for a while- don’t think they were satisfied with me yet-so I came back down to Jeff City and started selling Minn-Moline & Case and finally Massey Ferguson. They got some other dealers they thought was good- in Tipton- couple didn’t know a cream separator from a mower- was the blockman’s brother in law…just kept if 4 or 5 years-they went out-nobody there….then same blockman that put me out up there says ‘Alex if you want to go back up to Tipton or start a store here, you can start-run it just the way you want to.’ But I had something started here (Jeff city/Cedar city) so I didn’t do it.
• 1951- Lauf Equipment survives the flood of 51’
  • 500 year flood
  • Alex watched his barn from a farm in Boonville float past bridge in Jefferson City
• 1953- Massey-Harris and Ferguson merge
• 1955- We became a Massey Ferguson dealer, which is our primary brand today
• 1955- We became a Gehl dealer which is one of our current brands today
• 1955- Harold Alexander Lauf marries Grace Helen Vanloo on Aug 27
  • 4 children: Thomas, Mary, Michael, & James Lauf
• 1957- Harold rescues lady from Missouri River on December 26^th
• 1957- Sir Edmund Hillary makes the first land crossing of Antarctica using Ferguson tractors
• 1958- “Harris” is Dropped from name to become “Massey Ferguson”
• 1959- Hawaii & Alaska are recognized as states
• 1960s- Lauf equipment would pick up the equipment at Millbottom off of railroad cars
• 1962- Massey Ferguson becomes the world’s best selling tractor brand
• 1963- Harold bought the business from Alex Lauf—Massey Ferguson and Minneapolis Moline
• 1964- Massey Releases the 100 series tractors
  • Massey 135 becomes the most popular tractor ever sold worldwide
• 1969- A teenager named Larry Swillum starts his first day at Lauf Equipment
  • Larry later became the longest-serving non-family member employee at Lauf Equipment
• 1975- Vietnam war ends
• 1977-  Lauf equipment is awarded top Hesston pull-type windrow dealer award
  • Lauf Equipment sells more Hesston mower conditioners than any other dealer in North America
  • Flat rate eight hours to assemble one, Jim could assemble two mowers in eight hours.
• 1979- Lauf Equipment moves into its new (and current) building at 541 West Highway 94 Jefferson City, Missouri
• 1980- Interest rates 18% and one of the hottest summers on record
  • Harold cashed in some of his life insurance policies to keep business afloat.
• 1981- Reagan is sworn into office
• 1981- Massey Ferguson introduces the “Gentle Giants” The 850-860 big capacity combines
• 1986- Alexander Lauf founder of Lauf Equipment passes away on March 16, in Jefferson City, Missouri
• 1989- Lauf equipment gets first computer system used for parts and sales
• 1991- AGCO corporation is formed along with Allis-Gleaner Company
• 1992- Expand shop portion of business adding approximately 6,000 square feet
• 1993- Flood of 93’
  • CNN live covers at Lauf Equipment
  • 10,000 sandbags
  • Over 5 feet of water in the building
  • The flood came while Harold was on vacation in Alaska, so his children and employees moved all the equipment to higher ground and operated the business out of Harold’s home
  • made many trips to northern customers by traveling to Boonville to cross Missouri River and come back down since highways in Jeff were down
• 1994- AGCO acquires Massey Ferguson
• 1995- Tom, Mary, Jim purchase Lauf Equipment from Harold
• 1995- Became a Kuhn dealer
• 1997- Massey Ferguson was the largest-selling tractor brand in the world for the 35^th straight year
• 2006- Massey and Hesston merge
• 2007-  Massey Ferguson modernizes its three triangles logo representing the “Ferguson System, based on the important invention of the 3-point hitch and the partnership among Massey, Ferguson, and Harris
• 2007- Lauf receives contract & becomes an eXmark dealer
• 2007- In December of 2007, Harold Lauf passed away
• 2009- Lauf equipment purchases its new & current computer system
• 2012- Lauf Equipment wins Callaway County Agri-Business of the year
• 2012- Grace Lauf passed away
• 2016- Larry Swillum retired from Lauf equipment as the longest-serving non-family employee, 46 years
• 2015 & 2016- New roof, ventilation system, and interior redesign
• 2016-current family members employed at Lauf Equipment
  • Full Time: Tom, Jim, Mary, Elizabeth, Zachary
  • Part-time: Jon, Patty, Justin
• 2017-  Lauf Equipment celebrates 75 years in business!
• 2019- Lauf Equipment survives another great flood, launches its first digital marketing campaign, hosts our first demo day, and has a record-setting year of selling tractors
• 2020- For the first time in company history, Lauf Equipment earns the prestigious 5 Star dealer excellence award, the highest rating given to a dealership by Massey Ferguson.  Here is a direct quote from our territory rep at the end of 2020  “Not only did the industry grow tremendously, Lauf Equipment outpaced the industry grow by 2.5 times!  While the entire tractor industry grow 27.6% through October of 2019, you guys blew them away with a 70.6% increase in unit sales.  And this trend shows through the entire CUE categories.

  On top of that, your dealership is the top selling single store dealer in the entire Central Region (ND, SD, NE, MN, IA, WI, IL, MO)!  This is a testament to your commitment to Massey Ferguson, serving your customers, and most importantly the performance of your dealer’s personnel and how you have handled this strange and challenging year.  Your planning and execution of your plan have paid off.”  Luke Olson Account Manager- AGCO

• 2021- Lauf Equipment earns 5 star for the second year in a row (one of only 19 dealers in Canada and North America), remodels our floors and showroom display.
• 2022- Lauf Equipment celebrates 80 years  in existence as a company, redesign our parts counter