Ranch Raised with Karina Jones – Chasing Hay!

July 21, 2026 Karina Jones Featured, Ranch Raised 0

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Ranch Raised with Karina Jones - Chasing Hay!
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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!

Chasing Hay! Thanks for joining me today on Ranch Raised.

I’ve got a million things going right now. Getting a college bound girl packed up. Getting ready for the county fair, and the list goes on but we’ve got hay to chase! While our pastures are holding up pretty well considered our lack of moisture, our hay meadows are in sorry shape. There are a lot of places that in a normal year, we would just leave, but I drive by and I swing my swather in because I get hopeful. And then I live with regret for the next few hours thinking about the fuel I just wasted to knock down what will probably take us a couple hours to rake into one windrow and spit out 2 bales. So, if we aren’t chasing hay in our own meadows, we are like everyone else around these droughty parts, we are chasing hay to buy. It is all a gamble. Hay, no matter the kind, is selling for a premium this year. I’m happy for the hay sellers, they deserve a great year, too. 

All this to say, keeping a herd together during a drought is not for the faint of heart. I think every time my husband and I make it through a drought, trucking cows to greener pastures in far off areas, or buying feed at a premium, we tell each other, “we will never feed cows through a drought again.” 

But, then it’s like childbirth, and you forget about the pain and the challenge. And we find ourselves scratching and clawing our way to keep the herd together, no matter the sacrifices. Because they aren’t just cows, they are our life’s work. And that is just so hard to turn your back on. 

karina@youragnetwork.com or visit facebook.com/ranchraisedwithkarinajones


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About Karina Jones 508 Articles
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.