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!
Welcome back to Ranch Raised! I want to give you a little glimpse into the rear view mirror of Karina Jones so you can see why I am so passionate about this way of life. I grew up with a great grandma that was tough as nails even though she couldn’t have weighed 100 pounds. Visiting her humble ranch home was truly a walk back in time. To open her refrigerator, you would find a gallon jar of fresh milk with a piece of wax paper covering the top. And so from a young age I became a cream snob! Only fresh cow cream in my coffee! She herself was pretty partial to a Brown Swiss milk cow, Hereford cattle and lots of chickens, she loved her chickens free ranging all over the yard. There were baskets full of eggs in her kitchen. She was sure to send whomever was visiting with a dozen or two. She would pour my sisters and I something to drink in a little quilted jelly jars. But really, it was the summer time when I got to see her in all her glory, in her garden. There were more tomatoes planted than any garden I have ever seen. And it is probably the reason why I question myself every spring and ask “is 40 tomato plants really enough?”
There is just something about being able to raise the food you put on the table for your family. Hippocrates wrote, “Let food be thy medicine and let medicine be thy food.” I’m pretty sure he must have had a garden and a freezer full of homegrown meat too. Tune in tomorrow as I continue down this road. Check more stories and markets at YourAgNetwork.com.
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.
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