New Year Reflections and the Ruminant Revival for American Freedom

As Americans welcomed 2025, Kim Monson gathered two longtime friends of the show to reflect on the transformative year behind us and the opportunities ahead. Susan Harris, a sponsor and patriot who moved from Colorado to Arizona, shared her renewed optimism after watching independent media break through legacy gatekeepers. Trent Loos, sixth-generation farmer and rancher, announced his 2025 commitment to educating Americans about the ruminant revival and why cattle are essential to both food security and individual freedom.

The Upward Trajectory of 2024

Start listening at 2:40 – Hour 1

Susan Harris describes 2024 as a roller coaster that ultimately climbed upward. Despite the chaos, the Biden administration and its allies revealed their true colors, and independent media platforms like X allowed truth to escape faster than it could be controlled. She points to MSNBC hosts being asked to take pay cuts due to ratings slumps as evidence that legacy media’s stranglehold on information has weakened considerably.

Harris acknowledges the intense hatred directed at Donald Trump through media campaigns but notes that many former skeptics now recognize the propaganda for what it was. She recalls being affected by the negative coverage herself before realizing the media would say anything to destroy a person who threatened their objectives.

“The truth started escaping, and it escaped faster than they could control it for once. And it was really kind of crazy but exciting as well, And I think, honestly, that’s why we’re seeing or why we saw success in the election was because voices were actually able to be heard.”

Susan Harris, Show Sponsor and Patriot

Lawfare and the Battle for Justice

Start listening at 16:00 – Hour 1

The conversation turns to the unprecedented legal attacks against political opponents during the Biden administration. Harris marvels at the resources Trump required to defend himself on every level of his life, from the Mar-a-Lago raid to countless lawsuits. She contrasts the FBI’s aggressive treatment of Trump’s documents with the scattered Biden documents found everywhere from his garage to university offices.

Kim discusses her friend John Eastman, the constitutional scholar who has faced relentless lawfare for his role advising President Trump on January 6th. A documentary about his ordeal, “The Eastman Dilemma: Lawfare or Justice,” premiered at Mar-a-Lago. Despite attempts to destroy his career and law license, Eastman remains resolute, quoting the founders’ pledge of their lives, fortunes, and sacred honor.

“And I keep a little note next to my sink in my bathroom, and it’s a little note that says, what if it turns out better than you could have ever imagined?”

Susan Harris, Show Sponsor and Patriot

The Ruminant Revival for 2025

Start listening at 59:03 – Hour 2

Trent Loos announces his 2025 commitment: explaining the importance of the ruminant revival to everyday Americans. A ruminant is an animal with one stomach but four chambers that can consume cellulose material humans cannot eat and convert it into nutrient-dense protein. Cattle, sheep, goats, and bison transform 72 percent of Earth’s land mass into the most nutritious food substance on the planet while improving soil health through their grazing cycle.

Loos poses a revealing question: which country has the most cattle? The answer surprises most people. India leads with 300 million head, China ranks second, Brazil third, and the United States fourth with under 90 million. Yet America produces more consumable beef than any other nation due to efficiency innovations over decades.

“Ruminants are vital to individual liberty and freedom. You show me a country in the world that does not have a strong ruminant population, I’ll show you a country in the world where people are struggling with freedom.”

Trent Loos, Sixth-Generation Farmer and Rancher

The Selective Targeting of Western Agriculture

Start listening at 76:20 – Hour 2

Loos exposes the hypocrisy of climate policies targeting cattle emissions. The Netherlands instituted a “burp tax” on January 1st, Ireland aims to reduce beef and dairy herds by 30 percent, and North American ranchers face constant pressure. Yet India and China, the two countries with the most cattle, face zero international pressure to reduce their herds. Meanwhile, China and India permit new coal plants weekly while Western nations dismantle their energy infrastructure.

EPA data reveals that a single one-million-acre wildfire in Nevada in 2017 contributed more emissions than the top ten petroleum companies over a ten-year period. Proper grazing by ruminants prevents such catastrophic fires by consuming the fuel load that otherwise burns out of control.

“The EPA itself admits that one fire that burned one million acres contributed more emissions to the atmosphere than the top ten petroleum polluters, according to the EPA, for ten years.”

Trent Loos, Sixth-Generation Farmer and Rancher

Government Programs Destroying Soil Health

Start listening at 88:00 – Hour 2

Loos shares a disturbing discovery from his drive between Fargo, North Dakota and Brookings, South Dakota. Farmers along Interstate 29 were engaging in aggressive tillage practices that the industry abandoned 30 years ago because such plowing destroys soil microbes and organic matter, contributing to conditions like the 1930s Dust Bowl.

The reason? Climate smart federal programs require farmers to destroy the soil health they spent decades building so bureaucrats can reset baselines to zero and then claim credit for improvements. Farmers squeezed by property taxes and input costs accept these programs out of desperation, unwittingly undoing generations of progress in soil conservation.

“They want to destroy all of the organic matter that the farmer has built so that they can take the baseline back to zero so that they can show the improvement of what their climate smart money is doing.”

Trent Loos, Sixth-Generation Farmer and Rancher

Charles Goodnight and the Cowboy Spirit

Start listening at 99:20 – Hour 2

Kim asks about Charles Goodnight, whose quote about cowards and cowboys closes the show. Loos explains that Goodnight, born in 1836, invented the chuck wagon that fed cowboys on trail drives. His JA Ranch spanned from near Castle Rock, Colorado through New Mexico and into Texas, covering one million acres. The cattle industry he helped build, shipping Texas cattle to northern markets via rail, rebuilt America after the Civil War.

Loos announces a Stand for Property Rights event in Akron, Colorado on January 12th, emphasizing that protecting agricultural property rights requires citizen involvement at the local level through school boards and county commissions where property tax decisions originate.