By SHELLY STRAUTZ-SPRINGBORN
Michigan Correspondent STANTON, Mich. — Celebrity “agvocate” Trent Loos urged Michigan Farm Bureau members to take an active role in telling agriculture’s story to anyone who will listen during the organization’s second statewide Membership Day on Feb. 1.
Loos was raised on an Illinois farm and now raises beef cattle and trains horses on a ranch in central Nebraska with his wife and three daughters. Sporting a trademark cowboy hat and handlebar mustache, the sixth-generation farmer has risen to fame as the man behind radio and TV programs, columns, blogs and newsletters that celebrate agriculture and rural America.
He met with Michigan farmers on Feb. 1 during membership kick-off gatherings hosted by county Farm Bureaus in Allegan, Ionia, Livingston, Macomb, Montcalm, Washtenaw and Wexford counties.
That evening, Loos addressed a group of about 50 Farm Bureau members at Clifford Lake Inn in Montcalm County. He challenged them to think about public perception of what farmers do and to work toward helping people understand agriculture and its role in society.
“If you really start talking to people, they want to know what’s going on on the farm,” Loos said.
The problem, he said, is the general population doesn’t know who the farmer is.
“The farmer continues to be one of the top three most credible individuals in this country,” Loos said. “They believe that the farmer is a great person, man, woman or child. They also believe that corporations, companies and factories produce the food they consume.
“I hope we can find a way to step outside of our comfort zones and challenge some individuals,” Loos said. “We all need to take an active role in shaping public perception about what it is we do.”
Loos told the group that it’s important to make the point of agriculture clear and to learn how to tell agriculture’s story in a way that people will understand.
“Agriculture first and foremost improves human lives,” he said. “It’s the conversion of natural resources into human consumable products – food, fiber, pharmaceuticals and fuel – that improves human lives. You show me a nation that does not have a strong agricultural system and I’ll show you a nation where people are struggling.
“As we continue to charge down this path to being better communicators, as we talk about being better advocates for agriculture, we realize that we don’t really know how to communicate with people who are not in this room. Our language is so different that they often just look at us in bewilderment,” Loos said. “In agriculture, we talk about things. People who don’t know about agriculture don’t know what we’re talking about. If we are going to be better ambassadors of agriculture, we have to be able to speak in a language they can understand and know where to start.”
Loos challenged his audience “to find people who don’t agree with us and go tell the story of American agriculture, because it is all about improving human lives.”
The Membership Day kicked off MFB’s 2011 membership campaign, which focused on showcasing the benefits of being a member of the state’s largest farm organization while working to retain and attract members.
“Trent’s message of how farmers and people who support Michigan agriculture benefit from Farm Bureau membership in bridging the gap between the farming and non-farming public is timely, practical and useful information for existing and prospective Farm Bureau members,” said MFB Membership and Field Services Department Manager Mike Wenkel.
Details about Loos are available on his website at www.loostales.com |
