The Shepherd resident began working at Neyer Dairy Farms, his family’s farm, at age 3. He helped his grandmother out on the cash register. He now drives loading tractors, feeds calves and cleans their stalls.

“It’s a rewarding job,” he said, “because at the end of the day I can say I helped feed the world.”

Neyer Dairy Farms has locations in Shepherd and Mount Pleasant and has been in the family for 46 years.

They have 1,000 cattle and 1,500 calves between the two locations. Along with milking and raising cattle the Neyers’ farm grain crops and supply manure to other farmers.

Special vitamin infused milk from the farm is supplied to the Central Michigan University football team. The program began with former head coach Butch Jones, but CMU head coach Dan Enos decided to keep up with the milk plan.

“Milk has been proven to help the body recover quicker,” said Jerry Neyer, Sam’s father. “So, the CMU coaching staff thought it would be good to give it a try for the team.”

The team went through so much milk — about 40 gallons a week — food services now provides a milk dispensing machine outside of the locker rooms.

In order to keep farming a tradition in the family Neyer hopes to pass the farm to his children.

“I’m not expecting Sam to take over,” Neyer said. “But I would be happy to pass it down if and when he makes that decision.”

Sam said he would like to eventually take over the farm and expand it with his brother and cousins. Family is important to him because of the time spent bonding while they work together, he said.

Sam’s love for animals is the other main reason he would like to stay in farming.

“I like seeing how they interact with each other and humans,” he said. “They can be really funny, especially the calves.”

The seventh grader attends Sacred Heart Academy in Mount Pleasant where he runs on the cross-country team. The sport demands a lot of his time but so far it’s been his favorite to compete in.

Farming also influences many other aspects of Neyer’s life. He is an active 4-H member and has tried photography, woodworking and being a dairy feeder in the organization.

This year for Christmas his parents helped him pay for a 1950 John Deere A tractor.

“I like to work on it and fix it up,” he said with a smile. ”It’s fun to just drive around in too.”

Someday he hopes to attend Michigan State University and be part of the Agricultural Science program.