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 back to a little trucker talk today on Ranch Raised! As I said yesterday that out of all of the truckers that pull in and out of our yard through out the year, there are a couple of guys who are local bull haulers that are more like family.
They have rode the trail with us through lots of phases of the moon and life challenges. They’ve seen me push cattle up the chute 9 months pregnant in the spring and they’ve seen me unload trucks in the fall with a baby on my hip. They’ve watched our children grow and work right along side of us.
They’ve been cheerleaders when there wasn’t much to cheer about. The years we sent them out to WY with pairs when we were in the thick of a drought here, they told us it would all be okay and there would be years for moisture. Then there was the year that the blizzard Atlas hit out in Eastern WY and braved the situation to get our cattle home. There have been years it was exciting to load up the calves to head to Burwell or Bassett and there have been years when the cattle market was in the toilet and I told them they might get paid with garden produce and chocolate cookies because there might not be enough money in the bank. No matter the scenario they have always cheered us on and told us to keep our chin up.
And then last fall when they brought our calves back to this south place for us to background we broke the news that they hauls out of here were numbered and that we would soon be moving. It was definitely a heavy moment. They have known my husbands family for decades and couldn’t believe this is where our fate had led.
I’ve got a little more to say about our favorite truckers and their last hauls out of here, so come back tomorrow right here on Ranch Raised!
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.
[email protected] or visit facebook.com/ranchraisedwithkarinajones
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