Staff writer
Tim Summervill is a fourth generation farmer. He knows what it is like as a child, watching your dad work on the farm.
This year it was time for Summervill to have his own helper, his 3-year-old daughter, Shelby.
This year Shelby added style to Summervill’s beef herd by choosing the calves ear tag colors.
The heifers are pretty in bright pink, and the steers sport florescent green tags.
“They’re her favorite colors right now,” Summervill said. “They’re not usually that colorful.”
Summervill said Shelby and his 15-month-old son, Trent, enjoy going with him to feed cows. He said Trent cannot say cow yet, but he moos at them.
Because farming is something Summervill loves, he hopes his kids will grow to love it too and continue to trail him around the farm.
“If it’s something they want to do in the future it’s up to them,” he said. “It’s a hard life but rewarding.”
Summervill is about 2/3 of the way through calving. He has lost a few because of cold weather and has sheltered many calves from the cold in the barn and heated office.
He tries to calve his heifers in January, so he has time to watch them and make sure they have few complications as they calve for the first time. Because of corn planting, he times his cows to be done calving by April.