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!
Welcome to Fun, Fact Friday right here on Ranch Raised!
Today is National Farm Workers Day! It is celebrated annually on March 31 to pay tribute to the unsung heroes on a farm who are the hired workforce doing the tougher part of the job such as plowing fields, operator tractors, spreading fertilizers, and harvesting crops.
America has a rich history in producing food and that would not be possible without the manual labor that makes it happen. Historically, farm laborers lived hard lives in the fields during the colonial era. Men and women were indentured servants no promise of eventual freedom. By the 1600s, plantation owners, requiring more farmworkers, started enslaving African immigrants.
After the Civil War, California became the agricultural center to which farmworkers were imported from Asia. During the 1930s and World War II, the immigrant farmworkers shifted to Mexico.
National Farm Workers Day might be a single day paying homage to the unrelenting efforts of farmworkers but should be an annual reminder of the bitter fact that farm labor continues to be taken for granted.
The labor force on a farm plays a pivotal role in bringing crops to fruition. The manual labor they perform is not always easy as sometimes they are working in the fields under the glaring sun in all kinds of climates. Without their relentless hard work and commitment, farmers wouldn’t be able to grow, maintain, and harvest crops on such a large scale. So, on this day, we thank and glorify all farmworkers for making it possible to bring fresh produce and crops to our tables in the face of increasing risks and challenges.
Karina ranches with her husband, Marty, and 4 children 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, where she deep dives into cattle industry issues and 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 Jones Ranch.
Cattle producers are her people. She will meet you at the county fair, at the sale barn, or anywhere the dusty trail leads.
karina@youragnetwork.com or visit facebook.com/ranchraisedwithkarinajones
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