Glyphosate or Table Salt both kill you

​

There is a reasonable correlation between the amount ingested and the likelihood of serious systemic sequelae or death. Advancing age is also associated with a less favorable prognosis. Ingestion of >85 mL of the concentrated formulation is likely to cause significant toxicity in adults. 

Table salt Sodium chloride NaCl, Lethal Dose  12357 mg/kg 

If you do the metric conversion Salt is lethal at 12 ml and Glyphosate at 85 ml.

I am making a clarification to previous statement. My metric conversion was a bit off although does not change the story. Salt is only 3 times as toxic as glyphosate not 5 times.

Dr. Cami Ryan formerly of the University of Saskatchewan has this all laid out in much greater detail and easy to understand. Link here

Just saying please pass the salt for my prime rib.

​

Trent Loos

515 418 8185

Indeed my dear Valentine did come through in shining colors like always.

Meat Every Day

In my home state of Nebraska we have a tremendous tradition of college football that is a source of pride and entertainment. We also have a heritage of beef production; in fact you can once again get license plates that say "The Beef State."  We are the Beef State because producing beef improves both the health of humans and the planet. I would be honored to remind you exactly why it is that we are proud to be in the beef business.

For years meat products were consumed without actually looking at the health benefits of their consumption. In the late 1970's, a very flawed piece of junk science from the University of MN suggested that the consumption of milk, meat and eggs may be problematic and the downhill slide began as the media and legislators jumped on the bandwagon instead of doing their homework.

Thankfully better science in recent years clearly shows that the daily consumption of animal products is not only the healthy way to go but is essential for health and brain function.

Studies from researchers like Dr. Lindsay Allen at UC-Davis have led her to state that meat consumption is so vital it should be considered unethical not to make your kids eat meat daily.

The newest levels of science really zero in on the benefits of beef, particularly in regard to mental health. With all the recent news about vaccinations and autism and a resurgence in diseases, there is one component of brain development that continually gets overlooked.

Dr. Arthur Beaudet, chair of molecular and human genetics at Baylor College of Medicine and a physician at Texas Children's Hospital, is the senior author of the report that appears online in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

His findings suggest dietary intake of red meat, especially among very young children, could reduce the chance of developing autism.

Meat eaters receive about 75% of their carnitine from their diet; however, dietary carnitine levels are low in vegetarians and particularly in vegans. In most people, levels of carnitine are balanced by the body's ability to manufacture its own carnitine in the liver, kidney and brain, starting with a modified form of the amino acid lysine.

We know that 20% of all teens will experience depression before they reach adulthood.  Many recent peer reviewed studies have proven that vegan and vegetarian diets are directly tied with an elevated risk of depression.

Now on to the statement about how cows improve the planet. As ruminant animals graze pastures properly, the plants increase their absorption of greenhouse gases which are actually plant food.

The USDA has a 50 year study conducted by Richard Hart that documents how moderate cattle grazing improves plant diversity. In fact, his work goes so far as to say that overgrazing actually promotes more plant diversity than non-grazing.

For anyone who actually wants to open mindedly look at the real science, you can't argue that the grazing animal does anything but improve the planet.

Recognizing that 75% of the total land mass in the United States is not suitable for growing crops but can grow grass, cows are vital components to not only a healthy planet but a well fed nation.

I admit that in Nebraska we pride ourselves on corn fed beef. It truly is our marketing niche.  With that said we must remember that even in the best corn fed beef, only 30% of the animals total diet originated from grain.

Cattle are able to convert the cellulose from grass into human consumable, life-essential proteins as well as a lengthy list of many other products we use every day from toothpaste to thrombin for surgeries to tires.

Raising and eating beef does not destroy the planet. In fact, it benefits both the planet and the people who live on there, especially proud Nebraska Beef Staters. So forget Meatless Mondays and Meat-free UNL. Because Nebraskans eat beef, we are smart enough to know those aren't good choices for our people or our planet.

Trent Loos is a 6^th generation U.S. rancher from Central Nebraska. In addition to raising food for the world, he and his wife Kelli (UNL 88) work daily on educating the public about who, how and why food is produced. More information can be found at www.LoosTales.com or email trentloos@gmail.com or better yet just call 515 418-8185.

Momma's don't let your beany babies grow up to be tofu burgers. At DeKalb Seeds Redwood Falls, MN.

Charleston Carriage horses set a pace for all

Two weeks ago I truly enjoyed a weekend visit to Charleston, SC with members of the South Carolina Farm Bureau. Without question one my most enjoyable experiences was visiting with a couple of horse drawn carriage operators. We own 35 horses on our ranch in central Nebraska. We enjoy raising, training, driving and riding horses on a regular basis.

That is why I was completely disheartened with the recent article written in their local paper posing the question “Is it time to revisit the banning of horse drawn carriages in Charleston?”

The answer is NO. I repeat NO!

For most people the highlight of a trip to this city is to slow life a great deal, jump in a carriage and see the city in whole new light.

There are those that say horses do not belong in the city because it is too dangerous. I contend that horses under the care of carriage owners have the lowest risk of all horses in the nation. 

For example, in our herd that never sees a stable or a barn, most of the injuries they suffer are from another horse. Horses are pecking order animals and the boss will always be proving himself/herself as the leader. In the Nevada desert where 30,000 BLM horses roam, a stud fight will leave a horse suffering a long, cruel, miserable death on a DAILY basis.

In fact, the most safe environment for any horse is quite possibly the under protection afforded to the horse by the carriage owner who has invested thousands of dollars to keep the horse healthy and safe. If you look at the history of the industry, you must go back several years to even find reports of scattered incidents of injury to either horse or human.

The article references NYC and its foiled attempt to ban the beautiful creatures from the streets but leaves out a couple of key facts. In the past 10 years, a couple dozen horse have been injured on the job and one died. Yet in 2012 alone, more than 15,000 New Yorkers were injured in traffic accidents not involving a horse and 155 of them were killed.

Another fact that must be considered and is too often forgotten is that accidents do happen. It is reported that nationwide that riders make approximately 75,000 horse related visits to emergency rooms every year and most are just from people working with their own horses.

People need to look at the facts and the safety record of the horse and carriage industry in Charleston before they even think about considering this discussion. The horse owners care more about the health and well-being of their own animals than any animal rights zealot ever will.

And bear in mind that it is the “ownership of animals” that these animal rights people are really working to achieve, not simply removing these beautiful horses that offer visitors to their fine cities a relaxed view of the area.

Fortunately I took the time to visit with Broderick Christoff, owner of the Charleston Carriage Works while I was in Charleston. I would encourage you to spend 6 minutes listening to what genuine animal welfare sounds like when you actually care about the animal.

Link to show  

Trent Loos is a 6th generation United States rancher in Central Nebrasksa. To contact Trent email trentloos@gmail.com or just call his cell phone 515 418-8185. More information can be found at www.LoosTales.com 

Great core group of DVM students at U of MN Vet school. Thanks Katie, Jen, Brady, Ashley & Ryan large animal enthusiast.

Autism and depression are now on Beyonce

As the father of three young daughters, I am asking Beyonce` to seriously reconsider her misguided notions about diet because young ladies are watching.

With her recent announcement focusing on a vegan diet and even launching a vegan meal delivery service, I believe she needs to consider the science behind how this could make her responsible for increasing autism and depression.

Autism is on the rise in this country. Because junk science led so many parents to opt out of vaccinating their children for fear of autism, we now have a bigger problem with diseases that were once basically eradicated. That is why we cannot take issues like this lightly.

Dr. Arthur Beaudet, chair of molecular and human genetics at BCM and a physician at Texas Children's Hospital, is the senior author of the report that appears online in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

The findings suggest dietary intake of red meat, especially among very young children, could reduce the chance of developing autism.

Meat eaters receive about 75% of their carnitine from their diet; however, dietary carnitine levels are low in vegetarians and particularly in vegans. In most people, levels of carnitine are balanced by the body's ability to manufacture its own carnitine in the liver, kidney and brain, starting with a modified form of the amino acid lysine.

Link for more details to Increasing meat consumption may reduce autism in kids

If you compare the graph to increased autism to these two graphs showing the reduced consumption of milk and meat over that time period, it certainly gives one cause for concern that our diet is likely leading to increased autism.

In addition, we know that 20% of teens will experience teen depression before they reach adulthood.  Do you want your daughters to have to fight depression in addition to all the challenges teenagers have to deal with already?

Many recent peer reviewed studies have proven that vegan and vegetarian diets are associated with an elevated risk of depression.

Vegetarian diet and mental disorders: results from a representative community survey. link

Large Study Finds Vegetarians Have Poorer Health, Lower Quality of Life Than Meat-Eaters link

You're a Vegetarian. Have You Lost Your Mind? link

I would also urge you , as a parent, to check out NinaTeicholz nine years of research into the misleading information that has been dispersed about fat in the diet at www.thebigfatsurprise.com.

I am asking all parents, grandparents and supporters of teenagers, particularly girls, to stand with me in asking Beyonce to use her public status for the good of our youth rather than placing their health and their lives in danger to promote the most recent Hollywood diet fad. I realize Beyonce may not be concerned at all about our daughters, but surely she wants to do the right thing for her own little girl!

Are you living the vegan lie thanks to a farmer?

Farmers/ranchers continue care for God's critters to improve the planet and human health despite the obstacles. As you can see from this photo you should be thankful whether or not you choose to eat dairy, beef, pork, lamb, goat or chicken.

Nothing humane about animal agriculture

As a 6^th generation United States farmer, I have had my fill of people talking about “humanely raised meat” when they don’t have a clue.

As a person who, in my 48 years on this earth, has provided daily care for more than 1 million animals, I think I am qualified to address the topic. The real experts in animal welfare are the farmers and ranchers who actually brave the elements of Mother Nature and get the job done.

Today is a great day to talk about how misguided the concept of “humanely raised meat” that folks like Chipotle are presenting to the public.

The only thing that is “humane” about rearing livestock for human consumption is the farmers and ranchers themselves. There is NOTHING else humane about it. Look the word up in the dictionary if you don't follow my drift.

At midnight last night I was still assisting a sow in the farrowing house by helping a couple of smaller, weak pigs get a good start.

By 5:30 am I was back in the farrowing building but the walk to get there was tough. It was 17 degrees with a 30 mph North wind and 8-10 inches of fresh snow.

Inside the farrowing barn, the sows and pigs were content in the farrowing crates and the temperature was a comfortable 74 degrees. They have no idea what it is like outside.

After completing the inside chores, I started the tough job of providing the feed and water needs to the outside hogs that have access to a bedded shed and the out doors.

Here you can see the sows that live in the environment that some think is ideal. On the other hand, if I were a sow I would choose to live inside where I did not need to pile on top of another pig to protect myself from the howling wind.

Pigs can be managed by good herdsmen to thrive in any type of environment. The farmer, not some pencil pusher in his/her comfortable cubical, should make that decision.

For the non-farm folks today, their romantic notion of pig rearing with access to outdoors and bedding is exactly the way my grandfather raised pigs in 1950.

What other single thing in life do you do like anybody did in 1950? From banking to communicating to driving to acquiring information. Not one single thing today is really like it was in 1950 yet we are told that farming and livestock production should be and we are also expected to feed a population that was unheard of in that era.

Why should we raise animals in “retro-style”?  Certainly not because the animals demand it. Give the sow the choice and she will choose a crate inside a building 100 times out of 100.

So after a couple hours of plowing snow, feeding and watering I make my way back into the temperature controlled farrowing building where another sow has 11 wonderfully active warm pigs that required ZERO assistance.

If that sow was in a pen with bedding and access to outside as demanded for “humane care”, there would be nothing there but a pile of dead pigs. Thanks to the advancements in modern pig rearing, I have a healthy litter of bacon makers on the way.

In closing I am asking that people stop referring to “humanely raised” milk, meat or eggs unless they are talking about the very animal husbandry that the farmer knows best how to provide.

The Chipotles of the world can sell their pig in a blanket, but let the farmer worry about keeping the live pigs warm.

Contact me at TrentLoos@gmail.com or www.LoosTales.com or better yet just call my cell 515 418-8185

Cowboys converge on San Antonio and Beef leadership status quo no more

As submitted to the High Plains Journal for Feb 7, 2015 edition. Link

Beef leadership status quo no more

As I have said before, we are at the most important crossroads in the history of American Agriculture. For beef producers in particular, we continue to lose the battle yet I don't see us developing any alternative strategies. As the old saying goes, if you keep doing what you've always done, you'll keep getting what you've always gotten.

It's time for something new, visionary and pro-active. The cattle industry convention is taking place in San Antonio, TX right now and I wonder who there will be asking the tough questions that really deserve answers if we hope to get beef in the forefront.

Yes, we are members of the Nebraska and National Cattlemen's Beef Associations. 

While I have serious concerns about leadership and direction, I still have faith that a grassroots membership organization is the right approach to achieving what's best for the industry. I am using this platform to ensure that our opinion as members is being heard and the decisions are coming from the members and not from the top down.

By the time you read this, news reports will be coming from the Alamo that suggest a record number in attendance for the convention. But who is there? And who is footing the bill?  Why is there such a push to get more and more from the cattle owners and why are they continually ask to ante up?

I have heard numerous accounts of cattlemen from around the nation who cannot attend the convention simply because it costs too much money. I realize that cattle prices have been out of this world for a year but that's not every year. Should the cost to attend and speak up where it matters really be that prohibitive? Is there a motive behind this?

In the past few years I certainly noticed the "price to play" has gotten completely out of control. Let me just give you a run down.

Full registration for the convention, which gives you access to most of the opportunities to be where your voice can be heard, is $675. Adding a spouse to the trip for $625 would bring registration alone to a total of $1300.

I suppose if you do a good job booking flights and keep it to about $350 per person, you have just added another $700 to the trip.

These "destination locations" for meetings guarantee that rooms are never economical or even reasonable so you will spend a minimum of $190/night plus tax for 5 nights. Now we are adding about $1125 to sleep for a couple hours each night.

While you are there, you are going to have to eat and that will run about $100/day to pick up meals not included in your registration.

As a loyal and supporting NCBA member, you will likely go to the PAC auction at $25/head and then you will need to raise your hand while you are there and it's hard to say how much that can set you back.

The real story is that you must be prepared to drop at least $3000 if you want even a chance to be heard at this meeting. So let's be honest, the majority of the people in attendance are there on their state's Check-off expense account or some industry expense account. When the price of admission is equal to the value of replacing two cows in your herd, is it really worth it to attend? Why should producers have to make this kind of choice?

Is this by design? Does current leadership not want the everyday cowboy to show up and ask the hard questions? Cowboys tend to speak their mind and tell it like it is, rather than patsying around a subject in an attempt to be politically correct and not ruffle any feathers. We don't mind ruffling feathers! We do mind people blowing smoke up our tail in an attempt to cover their own substandard performance.

A staff, led by an individual that makes over $428,319 a year, and a team that averages $180,000 salaries apparently cannot relate to the real world anymore.

If our industry association we were really getting the job done, maybe it would be a little easier to swallow. However, when you consider that beef demand has plummeted from 79.2 lbs per person in 1985 to barely 50 lbs in 2014, one must wonder is that is a good use of our funds.

We have let the USDA destroy the beef industry, first in school nutrition and most recently in dietary recommendations. They have misled consumers to the point where people feel guilty when they choose beef because they now think the cow is killing the planet.

I am really curious to see what comes out of this high-end cattlemen's social gathering. Will we have any more direction than we've had in the past or will we just keep funneling money toward the status quo?

Trent and his wife Kelli operation a diversified livestock ranch in Central Nebraska. More information can be found at www.LoosTales.com or contact TrentLoos@gmail.com

Claire is 6 months old and learning quite well. Think how the American citizens could learn from a stock dog always looking for work despite the weather.