SIOUX CITY, Iowa — The recent acquisition of some 73 stores from a Missouri-based company has made Bomgaars the nation’s second largest farm and ranch retailer, behind Tractor Supply Company, the Sioux City, Iowa-based company said.

Bomgaars announced in a news release today that it has acquired 73 stores from Orscheln Farm and Home, based in Moberly, Mo. The acquisition was part of a larger mega-deal approved Tuesday by the Federal Trade Commission for Tennessee-based Tractor Supply Company to take over Orscheln Farm and Home, which has 167 stores in Missouri, Kansas, Nebraska, Iowa, Indiana, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Texas, Kentucky, Illinois and Ohio.

To mitigate anti-trust concerns, the commission required many of the Orscheln locations be bought by a third-party participant. Missouri-based farm retailer Buchheit bought another dozen Orscheln stores, leaving Tractor Supply to acquire 81 Orscheln locations.

Tractor Supply spent $297 million in the deal. Bomgaars, which is privately held, did not disclose what it paid for the Orscheln stores.

The deal brings Bomgaars’ total number of locations to 180 in 15 states throughout the central United States, while adding 1,400 new employees. Bomgaars also will acquire Orscheln’s 330,000 square-foot distribution center in Moberly, Mo., next year.