Clark County cowgirl

Ten-year-old Savannah Satterwhite is not your average overachiever. When she’s not making straight A’s on her report card and working in her school’s Family Resource Center during recess, Savannah dons a 10-gallon hat and boots to work on her family’s farm. 

Savannah is a seventh-generation farmer who has been learning the tools of the trade from her father, Scotty Satterwhite. Already, Savannah grows crops and drives her own side-by-side utility terrain vehicle. She knows how to herd and care for the 13 cows living on the Satterwhites’ farm, more than half of them purchased in Savannah’s name.

“I like to doing that,” she said. “It’s really fun to have the cows follow me.”

Her love of farming began at age 3 when she watched Scotty pulling a calf from its mother’s womb and resuscitating it. Savannah named the calf “Minnie Moo”. It still lives on their farm.  

“She handled it like a pro,” Scotty said. “There’s been a bunch of them (calves) that I’ve saved over the years and she’s been there for about all of them since she’s been alive.”

Savannah now knows how to pull a calf from a cow’s womb herself. She has also learned many different farming skills she’s passionate about. Learning those skills has already paid off for Savannah; she grows, prices and sells produce at local farmers markets during the early-summer season. 

“She’s got more money than what’s in my bank account,” Scotty said.

Savannah also keeps busy off the farm. During recess, she works with the Family Resource Center at Conkwright Elementary School, where she’s in fourth grade. She packs lunches for children in need and sorts school bus attendance sheets. 

She also participates in local 4-H programs, including farming skillathons and cow-judging competitions. Savannah has surpassed the expectations of the adults in her life.  She said she is determined to maintain her farmer’s work ethic.

“I actually feel kind of good about being a farmer and a student combined,” she said.

Savannah said she hopes to inherit her family’s farm, start her own family, and — inspired by her love of the animals on the farm — become an animal doctor.  

“Watching her grow up and doing these things, it’s just astounding,” Scotty said. “That makes me proud.”