Lessons learned in 2018 election

I really wish this campaign cycle would not end. Said no one ever.

I think most people would find the results from coast-to-coast to have interesting components.

First off, I am humored by the number of people with their head in the sand (mostly major media) and cannot see the support for the anti-establishment president we have in Donald Trump. Huge crowds continue to show up and support the concept of draining the swamp and they choose to ignore it like it will just go away. It is not. We need government reform and quite simply that reform is back to the people.

My biggest disappointment on Election Day 2018 was not my own loss for Sherman County commissioner but rather what happened in Florida. Florida showed a swing with more of a conservative vote except in the vote on Amendment 13 to ban the wagering on greyhound racing. I will be the first to admit I did not do enough to help get the truth out and it will hurt all property rights.

As I sit here in the middle of Nebraska watching the discussion in Florida, the animal rights activists misled Floridians into thinking greyhound racing is extremely dangerous and ethics are an issue. On my side of the equation we just talked about the wagering aspect and that Florida will still have casinoes even if they vote to end wagering on dog races. Don’t get me wrong, there was a handful of us trying to get the message out but we were always on the defense.

I am coming back to my word that is killing us—incrementalism. We have fallen into the thought process if we can just preserve a little bit we will still be OK. When a mudslide occurs it is because just a little bit started a slow movement. As it flows it gains steam and causes more damage.

Obviously, something else is on my mind in this realm and that is the prudent use of antibiotics in food animals. You might have a hard time at first seeing the parallels but for me they are glaring. The activist who wants to end the ownership of animal agriculture is talking about the overuse in food animals and bacteria resistance in the human population to antibiotics needed. In animal agriculture we talk about how important antibiotics are to animal health. With this strategy we are just trying to save a little bit, no different than the end of greyhound racing.

The National Institute for Animal Agriculture announced its Eighth Annual Antibiotic Symposium. This year’s theme is New Science and Technology Tools for Antibiotic Stewardship. I acknowledge this group is the best opportunity we have to maintain the right to keep animals healthy. Think I am overreacting?

You’ve known for two years that in order to medicate your own animals in feed or water you must get a veterinarian’s prescription. A friend of mine told me the Food and Drug Administration has it in a 5-year plan that the same could happen simply to treat any animal with an inject-able. That is right, your cow or sow has just given birth and you can tell that LA300 would be best to help with the healing process because something just isn’t right. Stockmanship tells you this old girl needs a boost. These folks think it somehow helps the process to call your veterinarian to get a script before you give this medication? This is not in the best interest of the animal’s health.

We as food producers want to do what is right for health and safety of all human lives. Is this a Veterinary Feed Directive or is this a new plan with injectables that does what to help the bigger problem? Show me one bit of evidence that by complying with any of this I help curb the problem of antibiotic resistance.

No, what this is really about is incrementally removing my property rights. Today the best approach is we are doing this in the “best interest of the animal.” When at the end of the day they don’t care about the animal, they care about control. One thing for sure I got out of election is we must get much louder about preserving the basic freedom our young country fought to protect. Property rights is key.

Editor’s note: Trent Loos is a sixth generation United States farmer, host of the daily radio show, Loos Tales, and founder of Faces of Agriculture, a non-profit organization putting the human element back into the production of food. Get more information at www.LoosTales.com, or email Trent at [email protected].