Karina Jones

My heart is there but my head is not. And if you are a farmer or rancher right now, I’m sure you are feeling the same way.

Our family just got back from our annual exhibition trip to the Nebraska State Fair! It was humid, hot, and very people-y….everything you would expect from the Nebraska State Fair.

Typically the month of August is marked with ranch activities like pulling bulls and preconditioning. But, everything about 2026 has been out of kilter, most of the year, so the fall run starting in August, while dreaded, is not a total surprise.

American cheap food policy built consumer confidence on a house of sand. You may have thought ground beef could stay at $3 a pound forever. But, someone was paying the cost and that was rural America.

For the last 18 years have been spent strengthening their roots and preparing their wings. And now it is time for her to spread those wings and I just know that she is going to fly. 

I’m keeping all the families headed back to school on my heart and praying for a smooth transition. Which also reminds me, to remind you, to slow down and stay safe on those streets and the kiddos are heading back to school!

So this week I throw expectation to the wind. We are at the county fair to have fun. To support everyone. To celebrate the accomplishment of just getting there. To have someone else make my coffee in the morning and my walking taco in the afternoon.

I stand in the door of our barn today and realize, it will never be like this again. Today is the last day this barn that we have adapted into a show barn will ever be this full. There will never be this many show lambs in the barn being managed. Show cattle numbers will always be in flux. My chest tightens. Im trying to breathe through it.

While I looked out over the parched prairie I thought, “there are very few of us left that are willing to work like this to feed our country. I hope our government decides the American cattle producers are important enough to protect, before we rely on global imports to fill our meat cases.” Contact your Senators today and let them know you want them to reinstate Mandatory County of Origin Labeling on your beef!