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!
If anyone thinks that life on the ranch slows down and becomes a beautiful western, romantic novel during the summer months, they are actually reading a dystopian fiction novel!
The heat blast we have been in, brings extra work which means more hours working! Even our girls have their alarms set for 5:30 am so they can feed and rinse show calves while it is cool and exercise their show goats before threats of heat stroke set in. Honestly, it is not even a fight for them. They happily agree, it is so much easier to get it all done when it is cool.
Haying season for us, is in full swing and of course, cattle have to be checked to make sure those windmills and pipelines are pumping.
But last night we went to sleep with the pitter patter of rain on the rooftop and a forecast for today that gave us a break from the heat. It may have only been .2 of an inch of rain, only enough to settle the dust, but just enough to let us slow down for a morning.
With a bunch of berries in the refrigerator that needed to be used up and with the welcomed slower pace, a big breakfast of pancakes and berries was a welcome idea for my crew.
Chores were still done early, just not at 5:30. Then breakfast was enjoyed at a slower pace, while we all talked about what we will be doing today and tomorrow before the extreme heat returns at the end of the week.
So, go and make it a great day, I know we sure will! Check out all the past episodes of Ranch Raised on the Your Ag Network website or App!
Follow Karina Jones on Facebook!
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.
[email protected] or visit facebook.com/ranchraisedwithkarinajones
