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!
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It is county fair season across America! Some of you are in the thick of it and others like, us, are in the final countdown.
I can smell the funnel cakes and walking tacos. I can hear the giggles of little ones enjoying the carnival rides. But, most of all, I can feel the pride in the 4-H and FFA exhibitors that have worked so hard on their projects they are exhibiting. The county fair is their super bowl in that sand arena!
So many kids have spent their summer sweating it out in the barn exercising goats, cooling swine, and training cattle. They have scoured the internet looking for the best pie recipes. They have cultivated rows of garden green beans and potatoes hoping to have the prize-winning tubers. They have gone cross eyed focusing on that straight stitching line sitting at that sewing machine. They have painted flowers and taken pictures of dreamy sunsets.
There will be celebration and there will be heartbreak, but either way, there will be memories that last a lifetime. Kids and parents savor every moment. You will never get this year back. Kids, don’t forget to thank those who have steered you, hugged you after defeat and cheered for you on this journey.
We salute the 4-H and FFA exhibitors of all the local county fairs! Your worth is not determined by the color of that ribbon. It is determined by the heart and determination you have shown all year and how graciously you win and lose. Now go out and make yourself proud!
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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.
[email protected] or visit facebook.com/ranchraisedwithkarinajones