Village Inn Owners Sponsor Livestock Program Steer
By Karen Gould

Carin (left) and Courtney Ingelis with the steers they raised this year in the Cheboygan County livestock program.

“It’s a job for them,” said Theresa Ingelis, whose two daughters, Courtney, 15, and Carin, 13, have been participating in the nonprofit Cheboygan County livestock program for four years. Their father, Mark, is a captain for Shepler’s Mackinac Island Ferry.

This year, Mary and Ron Dufina of Mackinac Island sponsored Courtney in raising a steer. Their sponsorship fee applies to the purchase price of the animal and one percent goes to the operation of the program. Sponsors are able to contribute up to $650 for the purchase, and the student may have to contribute, too, depending on what the sponsor invests. Then, after the animal is sold at auction at the Cheboygan County Fair in August, the sponsor fee is refunded. Usually, said the sisters, the sponsor ends up buying the animal, which is exactly what the Dufinas did.

Mr. Dufina said he got involved in the livestock program through a friend who used to buy state championship steers at auction. After the Dufinas learned about the sponsorship process, they knew it was a program for them. It’s a way to help young people, said Mrs. Dufina. “Those kids work really hard raising their animals.”

Looking on the business side, Mr. Dufina said, “You won’t find better meat.” The Dufinas’ steer yielded about 550 pounds of meat, which they plan to serve in their Island and Pellston restaurants.

For Courtney and her sister, who also raised a steer that was sponsored by a local bank, the demanding job begins all over again in September.

The first thing they do is to locate a sponsor. The steers are born around January and remain with their mother until October, when the girls take full responsibility for the animals.

The steers spend the winter under the girls’ care, who feed and brush them daily. The summer is spent grazing and gaining weight at the Ingelis’ three-acre farm just outside Cheboygan. The steers usually are sold weighing between 1,100 and 1,400 pounds, with Courtney’s ending up at 1,370 pounds.

Courtney started the program with a pig when she was 11 years old.

“I just wanted to do it because it sounded cool,” she said.

Now she is raising animals to earn money for college.

Once the steer is sold, the sponsor paid back, and money spent on feed and veterinarian bills is deducted, the girls deposit their profits in their college account. It is possible to lose money, and that did happen once to Carin, but that didn’t discourage the girls from continuing with the program.

“They just both really love animals,” said the girl’s mother. “This provides a pretty big learning experience for them.”

“I like learning more about animals,” said Carin, “and saving up for college.”

Between the two, they have raised eight pigs, two calves, a cow, and three steers. Raising a steer is the hardest, they said, because of the daily care involved and the nature of the animals.

“They have a personality,” said Courtney. “It’s harder to raise a steer because you have them longer and you get more attached,” she explained.

“I usually cry at the auction,” said Carin. “Besides, they are really cute and cuddly.”

Courtney, who tries to take a more business-like approach, said, “I always try to keep in mind that in one year they will be on someone’s table.”

Both girls plan to raise steers again and the Dufinas already have agreed to sponsor Courtney.