Illinois Agri-News; Aug. 22, 2003:
Lifestock Producers Need to Speak Out About Their Industry
By Martha Blum
mblum@agrinews-pubs.comBLOOMINGTON, Ill. — It is important for livestock producers to find ways to be better spokespeople and better advocates for the industry.
“About three years ago, I decided I wanted to be on the radio,” recalled Trent Loos, from Loup City, Neb. “There was a guy representing PETA, who came to South Dakota and he was talking about the ills of animal agriculture and he said that we don’t need livestock agriculture in this country anymore.”
Loos saw the serious problem facing livestock agriculture. “The problem is the intervention of special interest groups in production agriculture, while we continue to sit back and allow people to tell the story of what is happening on farms,” he stressed.
“So one week later I walked into a radio studio in South Dakota and said I was a sixth generation U.S. farmer and I want my own radio station,” he continued. Now Loos produces a radio program called Loos Tales, that can be heard on numerous stations across the country.
“I see more opportunity today in production agriculture and life on the farm than we’ve had in my family’s six generations,” the farmer stressed. “There are opportunities that exist and the bigger that some of these companies get, the greater the opportunity for someone to have a niche market.”
There is a segment of consumers that want to purchase food locally, Loos stated. “They want to know who the producers are,” he added. “Niche marketing is not for everybody, but there us an opportunity to market your products direct to consumers.”
Loos added that producers could come to meetings and complain about large companies taking over marketshare. “Or, we can go and find where we can be part of the local niche market,” he continued. “There is a huge opportunity if we’re willing to identify what the needs are, adjust to those needs and market our products.”
Another concern of Loos is the amount of food that is wasted. “The third most prevalent item that goes into landfills in the U.S. is food,” he reported. “Twenty-five percent of the food available for sale or in a restaurant goes into landfills, that is $31 billion worth of food.”
And, he continued, according to the USDA, there are 12 million households in the U.S. that are considered food insecure and one-third of those households are considered hungry. “Food insecure means they’re not sure where their next meal will come from and hungry means they don’t have enough food,” he explained.
“We’ve got special interest groups that are promoting a cause to rid animals of suffering, what about the kids and people that are suffering,?” Loos questioned. “This is the type of information we have to start seeking.”
One of the greatest challenges facing U.S. agriculture is encouraging young people to return to agriculture. At an animal rights conference, Loos said, he talked with a guy from Washington, D.C. who works in the computer industry. “He said that he was trying to make enough money to buy his own farm,” he recalled. “Because he said that farmers have the purest life a man can live.”Why is it that everyone who grows up disconnected from the farm wants to be a farmer and those of us that grow up at the farm what to leave? Loos questioned.
“Why have we lulled ourselves into thinking there is no opportunity,” he asked.
“One person can make the difference and that’s the person I look at in the mirror every morning – it’s up to us to make the difference,” Loos concluded. “It’s up to you to change the image and perception of U.S. agriculture.”
