Page 32 of 32

                                                                      Exhibit 23


                        CONSENT OF INDEPENDENT AUDITORS

  The Board of Directors
  Mahaska Investment Company:

  We consent to incorporation by reference in the Mahaska Investment Company and
  subsidiaries Form 10-K, our report dated February 9, 2001, relating to the
  consolidated balance sheets of Mahaska Investment Company and subsidiaries as
  of December 31, 2000 and 1999, and the related consolidated statements of
  income, changes in shareholders' equity and comprehensive income, and cash
  flows for each of the years in the three-year period ended December 31, 2000
  which report appears in the Proxy dated March 23, 2001.

  /s/KPMG

  March 28, 2001
  Des Moines, Iowa