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!
As I said yesterday, we are in the middle of weaning fall calves, so I thought I would explain a little further. We have two herds of cattle that calve at opposite times of year.
While most people are accustomed to a spring calving operation, we also have a smaller herd of cows that calve from August to October. The weather is usually mild and we don’t have to battle blizzards or freezing temps.
The reason we subject ourselves to calving twice a year and weaning twice a year and all translating to twice the work, is because it is nice to get paid twice a year. While our fall calving herd is much smaller than our spring herd, it is nice to be able to tell the banker that we will bringing in a small paycheck in May from the sale of those fall born calves.
Because of the drought situation we are weaning this bunch a little earlier than we normally do. We are having to make some hard decisions. This year many operations are looking at their grass and feed situation which will be the ultimate indicator of how many mouths they can feed this summer and next fall. Besides old cows, our next deep cut in our drought plan is to sell our fall cows. By the looks of consignments at the local sale barns it is looking like a lot of fall calves are heading to town a bit earlier than usual and a lot of fall bred cows.
Remember last fall when I worked up a little ditty about weaning time? Well, if changed up a few lines so come back tomorrow and hear more about the weaning of our fall bunch. So, tune in tomorrow and let’s see how I did!
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Karina ranches with her husband, Marty, and 3 daughters 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 that is broadcast on 60 radio stations with coverage in 9 states, where she deep dives into cattle industry issues and highlights R-CALF’s work on 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 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
