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!
Okay, yesterday, I lied. Welcome back to our midweek check in right here on Ranch Raised!
Yesterday I was a bit sulky and pouty that my garden hasn’t been maturing and I am not in food “preservation season,” like I usually am this time of year. Last night I stepped out my back door to head to the garden to see if any tomatoes had started showing any signs of turning green to pink and there it was. It hit me.
Right outside my back door was one of our ranch pick-ups hooked to our long flatbed trailer. And then I remembered. We are in “preservation season.” Right now, farmers and ranchers across the land are cutting down hay and then wrapping it back up in whatever form they prefer as a form of preservation to feed their cows during the long winter months ahead.
I had become so consumed with what my garden wasn’t doing, I completely forgot about what we are doing on the ranch to plan ahead for winter. While preserving the alfalfa and forage crops doesn’t exactly put pretty glass jars full of human food in my pantry, I must not forget how valuable the work we do on the ranch is to prepare for the next season really is.
So, while I might not be filling Ball canning jars yet, I do recognize that we are scratching for every bit of hay that we can put in to a bale to fill the hay yards. And for now, that will fill my preserving heart.
Head on over to the Your Ag Network app or website to catch a full menu of programs providing ag news and markets. Have a great day!
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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
