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!
Are you ready for the State Championships? But these championships do not involve a ball of any sort. No, I am talking about the less recognized but highly important, in my eyes anyway, state fairs that are going on.
What can I say, I have state fair fever. Yesterday, my girls were each awarded State Championship medals, one as the Nebraska State Champion Intermediate Dog Showman and the other as the NE State Champion Beginning Novice B Obedience Dog Handler. While my girls are active and successful at the state level in 4-H and FFA, I will tell you that even the shows that they do not participate in get me pumped up. This weekend was the 4-H livestock shows at the Nebraska State Fair.
There was a common theme. All the judges kept making emphasis that these shows, even at this high caliber level, were less about the animal and more about kids! This is a kid’s program, not so much a trophy and ribbon program. Sportsmanship, humility, accountability, and gratefulness were mentioned over and over again and I could go on and on about the skills that were gained and sharpened.
But today is Monday and for most of those kids that competed over the weekend, no matter if they were the bottom to the top of their classes, they are back in school seats today, with little recognition from the outside world about what they really accomplished this weekend at a state championship competition.
I applaud you, I see you, I am always cheering for you! You do not need to have a ball in your hands to accomplish great things during your youth. You may just need to walk into a barn and follow your passion!
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.
[email protected] or visit facebook.com/ranchraisedwithkarinajones
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