Fueling Missouri Rice — Kimberly Jones

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Kimberly and her husband, Jacob, and their son, Thomas.

Fueling Missouri Rice

Kimberly Jones is a rice enthusiast! She grew up in #AgriReady New Madrid County, helping her family on the farm with lots of grunt work, rice gates and irrigation equipment, and growing a love for her favorite crop. Kimberly has fond memories riding along with her sister behind their dad, doing weed maintenance in the rice fields.

Today, Kimberly and her husband Jacob are part owners of the JB Bar Farm, a diversified row crop operation that grows soybeans, corn, popcorn and approximately 1,000 acres of long grain rice. A long-term goal for the Joneses is to mill their own rice and sell it directly to local consumers.

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Kimberly devoted several years of her career to elementary education where she shared agriculture accurately with intention. Recently, Kimberly has returned to the farm to help with daily operations and raise their son, Thomas. She has found a new opportunity to share about rice serving on the Missouri Farm Bureau Promotion and Education Committee.

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During the month of June, Kimberly was invited to the Missouri Ag in the Classroom Conference to share strategies with classroom teachers to use the story of rice while teaching core curriculum standards. These are strategies Kimberly practiced in her own classroom that are multi-sensory and cross-curricular. She shared ideas highlighting rice during reading, science, social studies and math across many grade levels. At the top of her favorites list is elementary math lessons.

“In math, we can do weight on a balance scale, alternative measurements by saying ‘how many grains of rice long is this?’ and volume studies by observing pre-cooked and cooked rice,” Kimberly said.

Jennifer Poindexter, director of promotion and education at Missouri Farm Bureau, said Kimberly has a heart of servitude and advocacy that sets her apart.

“Kimberly is an asset to our organization. Her heart for education, children and agriculture is unmatched. She loves to tell her farm story and captivates audiences of all ages,” Poindexter said. “We are grateful to have her on the Promotion and Education Committee and as a part of the Missouri Ag in the Classroom program.”

Kimberly has already been invited to apply to present at next year’s National Ag in the Classroom Conference.

Kimberly sees how young moms deserve to be informed about the items they are buying, and that is something she intends to help with.

“As a young mom of a young child, I see that so many things aim to make moms feel guilty,” Kimberly said. “They try to make them pay more for products that don’t have nutritional advantage. I want moms and all consumers to be informed and not purchase products out of fear. We live where we have access to a safe and affordable food supply.”

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Kimberly shares thoughts like these and stories about farm life on her social media and blog, Eighth Day Ag.

Jacob and Kimberly Jones have recently served on the Missouri Young Farmer and Rancher Committee and currently serve on the New Madrid County Farm Bureau Board. Missouri Farm Bureau is a partner organization within Missouri Farmers Care.