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!
Sunshine, Sunflowers, and Sandhills Scenery! Thanks for joining me on this mid week check in, right here on Ranch Raised!
From the sandhills to the Black Hills, my drive yesterday was nothing short of beautiful! I have already told you that my favorite drive in the whole world is Highway 2 through the Sandhills of Nebraska but this year Mother Nature and the Good Lord have out done themselves. The hills are as green as we all hope they are in the spring, but I have never seen them this green in the middle of August and painted with all those sunflowers.
There is just something about all that green-ness, I’m making up a word there, that is good for your soul especially if you are in agriculture. I would describe it as the best feeling of hope in the world. No matter how much grass is out there, if it is green, it just feels more abundant.
First cutting has been taken off the meadows and the regrowth was just spectacular. As I meandered into the hard grass country of Dawes County it looked great for this time of year! The southern Black Hills certainly did not disappoint either. Until I got just north of Hermosa and ran into a stretch that just got mowed down to the dirt by a hailstorm last week. My uncle’s ranch was right in the middle of that destruction. I pray for them and their neighbors that there is enough growing season left to bring some grass back for winter grazing.
It doesn’t matter if I’m in Custer County, NE or Custer County, SD. I can look out at landscape, the livestock, and places and feel at home. Man, it is great to be live in rural America!
Tell me what your favorite stretch of scenic highway is! I would love to hear about it. So leave me a message on the Ranch Raised FB page.
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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