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!
Thanks for tuning your dial to this midweek edition of Ranch Raised.
My husband and I have often said for the last 15 years, ranching wouldn’t be near as much fun, if it wasn’t for having our kids alongside us every day. The laughs, the lessons, the conversations make each day a new adventure, not only as we see it through their eyes, but live it right alongside them.
Before we dive into the second cutting of irrigated alfalfa we needed to brand and work a group of June born calves. With just the help of our girls a couple batches of June borns were gathered and worked in the early morning hours this week before it got hot and then pushed out to better grass where they will stay the rest of the summer and fall.
Our kids could have called it a day after the ranching was done those days, but instead they meandered off to the barn where they have all of their 4-H calves and goats that they work with every day. To my surprise last night when I went down to check on them, they had already brought in the next generation of calves. They had a handful of stocker feeder projects tied up, just like the big calves and even our youngest daughter had her bucket calf tied in for his evening feeding.
Seeing the barn even fuller with beef projects, with the stereo blasting, and kids zig zagging around attending to all of their projects was the best medicine for this mama’s soul. They have such big dreams in agriculture. They have such hope for the future. And for right now, I will just enjoy living through their hope and dreams.
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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
