Hello. I'm THAYNE COZART, President and “Thought Director” of Thought And Laugh Enterprise$, Inc. (TALE$). And I'm looking forward to speaking to your rural group someday soon.

 

I've had a well-rounded career in agricultural communications and I've watched and reported on the agri-happenings through the last 35 years in America with an ag journalist's critical eye. What Išve observed and experienced gives me a unique perspective on modern agriculture -- how the agricultural industry got where it is, where itšs going, its problems, solutions and opportunities.

 

Here's a little personal history. I grew up on a diversified farm in southeast Kansas. My education includes a B.S. in Agricultural Journalism from Kansas State University and an M.S. in Journalism Management from Oklahoma State University. Following graduation, I wrote about agriculture and 4-H Clubs for the Extension Services at my two alma maters. Then I went to Washington State University where I did double-duty as an ag writer and administrative assistant to the Extension Director.

 

That's when the entrepreneurial bug bit me and I moved back to southeast Kansas and founded FARM TALK, a weekly agricultural newspaper serving the four-corners area of Kansas, Missouri, Oklahoma and Arkansas. That's also the time when I became "Milo Yield," writer of a humor column entitled "Viewing the Field by Milo Yield." I later changed the columnšs name to “Laugh Tracks in the Dust.”

 

The paper was highly successful and grew to more than 11,000 paid circulation and established two major agricultural trade shows -- the Four State Farm Show and the Ozark Fall Farmfest. The two shows eventually grew to have a combined annual attendance in excess of 60,000.

 

I published FARM TALK for 13 years, then sold it to devote full-time attention to the duties of President and Executive Director of the National Organization for Raw Materials, an agricultural “think tank” that analyzes the economic interrelationships of agricultural production, commodity prices, imports and exports, and their impact on rural communities, rural people, and the general economy.

   

During that time, I syndicated my "Milo Yield" humor column and continued my public speaking. Then, in 1990, I moved to Iowa and served as Communications Director for the National Farmers Organization at its headquarters in Ames. I served that organization until 1996. Since then, Išve dabbled in internet merchandising for agriculture, freelanced agricultural articles for various publications, continued my syndicated column and public speaking, and began to enjoy semi-retirement.

 

My interest in public speaking just "happened" during my time at FARM TALK, and, before I knew it, I (or Milo Yield) was addressing rural groups of all types and sizes, agribusiness gatherings, conventions, high school commencements, 4-H and FFA meetings throughout much of the U.S. and in Ontario and Manitoba provinces in Canada.

 

As a professional ag communicator, I've had a few milestones worth noting. In 1984, the American Soybean Association honored me with its Communicator of the Year award. In 1986, the Agricultural Communicators in Education presented me with its national Reuben Brigham award. In the late 1980s, I served one year as president of the Kansas State University Ag Alumni Association.

 

Through it all, I've harvested a bountiful storehouse of agricultural experiences and observations that I love to share with rural audiences. I've got an abiding admiration of America's family farmers, ranchers and rural communities ­ and a keen perception of the social and economic forces that impact them.

 

I do my very best to make sure that folks who hear me speak have a thoughtful, reflective drive home. I try to spice my speeches with a little humor and a farm boy's unabashed love for the land and respect for rural values. My goal is to inspire audiences large and small, young and old, to thoughtful evaluation of rural America today.

 

Here's how you can contact me:

 

Thought And Laugh Enterprise$, Inc.

2532 YY Road

Emporia, KS 66801

Phone: 620-279-4345 or (cell phone) 620-344-1350

(leave a message on that pesky answering machine)

E-Mail: ThayCoz@MiloYield.com

 

 

 

If you'd like to see a partial list of the agri-groups I've spoken to, click here! 

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