Karina Jones is a real-life ranch wife in the Nebraska Sandhills and one of the most highly sought-after speakers in the cattle industry nationwide!
It’s thankful Thursday and I am thankful for all of you tuning in today on Ranch Raised!
I was going to continue on with more thoughts that run through a rancher’s head on days like today but honestly it is exhausting. I will say one way that we draw strength to get through these really hard days is finding what to be thankful for.
We are thankful when the sun shines. It makes all the difference in a day, no matter the windchill. We are thankful when our equipment starts and mechanically the day goes off without a hitch. We are thankful when we can keep water lines, hydrants, and water sources open and not frozen. We are thankful when we can get to our hay and get it to our cows. We are thankful when those cows comes to feed and I promise you we can read the look in their eye and they are thankful for us. If you know, you know!
We are thankful for the modern conveniences of electricity and the men and women who risk they lives to keep it on for us. I know there were some outages last night in our public power district. Despite the dangerous working conditions those linemen were out in the weather sacrificing a lot, I mean a lot to make sure the young and old were warm and taken care of. Our hats are off to you!
And as I said last week, emergencies and accidents do not coordinate with mother nature so we are thankful for medical staff, first responders, and law enforcement that work in the elements to keep our communities safe.
You may not think you have a lot to give, but gratitude and kindness costs nothing! So spread it all around this holiday season. Stay safe, stay warm, and be thankful for all you have today.
Karina ranches with her husband, Marty, and 3 daughters near Broken Bow, NE. She grew up in western NE, with roots also in southwest SD. The cattle industry and raising kids is her passion.
Watching the cattle industry go the path that it has gone, she could no longer sit quietly at home checking cows, fixing fence, and doing all the everyday tasks wondering when some else was going to make it all better. As she became more active and outspoken on industry issues, she was asked to join the R-CALF USA staff in September 2020 as the Checkoff Petition Campaign manager. That position transcended into her current role as full time Field Director for R-CALF USA.
You can hear her almost every Friday on Your Ag Network’s Hot Barn Report that is broadcast on 60 radio stations with coverage in 9 states, where she deep dives into cattle industry issues and highlights R-CALF’s work on industry reforms. Listen to Ranch Raised on a Your Ag Network hometown station or www.youragnetwork.com where she talks about her daily life on the ranch.
Cattle producers are her people. She will meet you at the county fair, at the sale barn, or anywhere the dusty trail leads.
[email protected] or visit facebook.com/ranchraisedwithkarinajones
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