Trent Loos
The MonDak Ag Days Committee is pleased to announce that Trent Loos, passionate advocate for agriculture, will serve as the Thursday night, Jan. 12 after-dinner speaker at the 2012 MonDak Ag Days banquet to be held at the Richland County Fair Events Center. Loos, a 6th generation rancher, began speaking out on behalf of agriculture in 2000 and uses radio, publications, the Internet and public speaking engagements as tools to get the positive message and the truth out about agriculture and food production today. For his topic of discussion at the MonDak Ag Days, Loos will focus on food production issues and will speak following the Ag Days banquet. “There are so many misconceptions that exist about food production,” he remarks. “I will lay out a clear path on how to overcome this.”
He continues, “There is a disconnect between food production and consumers and this is how myths begin. People no longer know where their food comes from and what goes on in food production, so they can’t separate fact from fiction.”
Although agriculture represents such a tiny portion of the population, we in agriculture still can have a voice and get our message out to the public. Loos believes all of us can make a huge difference in our own individual ways when it comes to promoting agriculture. “We are a small percentage of the population but we can do something,” he admonishes. “Each person one day at a time can tell the real story, and we can make a difference as individuals. Only a third of the population of the original 13 colonies was in favor of the revolution, but look what happened there.”
Loos began his quest over a decade ago to set the record straight about agriculture. The catalyst for his decision to promote agriculture arrived in the form of an animal rights activist. Loos attended a talk given by this man, a talk riddled with untruths and inaccuracies, and he realized that people needed to counter these myths with the truth. “I used to complain like everyone else that the boy in the grocery store had no idea where his milk came from, but that’s all I did, complain,” Loos says. “I then went to a talk given by an animal rights person and it dawned on me that this guy was telling lies and that people believed him. I took it upon myself to tell the truth about agriculture and to make a difference.”
Loos initially began his quest to educate the public by walking into a radio station in South Dakota and telling the manager he was a 6th generation rancher and he wanted his own radio show to talk about agriculture. That simple step launched his agricultural advocacy and mushroomed into over 100 radio stations airing his shows, Loos writing newspaper articles, using the Internet to get his message out, and accepting speaking engagements. “I walked into the radio station at Spearfish, SD, and told Jim Thompson I wanted my own radio show. He initially laughed at me but he became my mentor and taught me the ropes,” Loos comments. “I first aired on KMZU Radio in Carrolton, MO, in January 2001. I now do five radio shows every day with over 100 stations across the nation carrying the shows. I write a column for the High Plains Journal and I travel to over 35 states each year to speak.”
Loos also travels internationally as he has given talks in Canada and Australia. “This is a global phenomenon,” he comments about the disconnect regarding agriculture. “I try to educate and motivate my audience on issues related to animal agriculture and food production.”
Loos feels the biggest issue facing agriculture today is complacency, an issue we can and must address. “There is a disconnect and we have to do more than just complain about it,” he says. “My uncle used to tell me to stay home, work hard, and things would take care of themselves. That just isn’t true, that’s not the way it is.”
He concludes, “Food production is a means of national security. A country that can’t feed itself is vulnerable, and I intend to see that this doesn’t happen to us.”
Loos will give a very interesting, intriguing talk. Plan to attend the Ag Days banquet and listen to Loos present his ideas for educating the public about agriculture today.
Reader Comments(0)