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 this middle of May Monday edition of Ranch Raised!
I hope that everyone had a marvelous Mother’s Day. We had a pretty chill day around here rejoicing in the moisture that we received.
I had time to reminisce about past Mother’s Days and boy have they changed around the Jones Ranch over the years. When husband and I were starting out, full of ambition and energy, we always set up big AI breeding projects over Mother’s Day weekend and because we would never want to sit idle for a single moment, we could only hope that a neighbor or two would also plan a branding for that weekend. AIing on Mother’s Day weekend was a sure fire way to know we would spend Valentine’s Day together, calving of course! Then I became a momma myself and it would seem I was either loading the alley way with big belly in front of me or a baby on hip and then running to the front of the chute to fill AI guns or even stand on a block behind a cow to AI.
As the years wore on and I had more kids, my husband and I also gained more wisdom and decided that calving all those heifers in early February wasn’t as much fun as it used to be. So we adjusted AIing dates to later in the spring. But, with my older daughters in control of their own breeding decisions on their herds, I still sometimes must breed some of their projects on Mother’s Day.
One thing is for sure, Mother’s Day is not for the faint of heart for ranch and farm women! So, wether you spent the day in a tractor, playing with cows, or doing any of the hundred jobs you were called to do, just know that we salute all the mommas out there!
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 former role as full time Field Director for R-CALF USA.
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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