Aaron, a self-described polymath meaning he enjoys learning on a wide variety of topics and solving complex problems, uses his passion for learning in a variety of ways on the farm. From building algorithms to determine water movement that impacts manure application to animal health discoveries, Aaron uses data to arrive at solution space.
“BRD (bovine respiratory disease) can be very frustrating on the farm as you only have two pieces of data to work with when cattle are sick,” Aaron explains. “The animal looks sick and has a high temp, and these are the same symptoms no matter which bacteria are at play.” A farmer has to make a quick decision about what antibiotic to use, which may or not be effective depending on the disease strain.
Aaron was having a bad week with sick cows and, while at an event for his Purdue role, he was seated with Dr. Mohit Verma. His colleague listened to Aaron talk about the cattle and mentioned work being done on nanotechnology sensors for biological compounds that might be applicable in this scenario.
They teamed up to kick off a project that, explained simply, discovered a way to achieve diagnosis with a chip to identify the DNA sequence, better enabling the right antibiotic to be selected. “For example, this simple test can tell you right there in the barn if the strain present in the animal is resistant to penicillin, tetracycline or other antibiotics,” Aaron explains. The technology is now under commercial development by start-up company Krishi.
Data and analysis determined what breed of cattle the Aults raise. While starting with traditional beef breeds, the drought of 2012 drove up prices for cattle dramatically. “We did the math and decided to start with smaller cattle, available to us from the dairy industry, so we switched to Holsteins,” Aaron says. They raise almost 4,000 cattle each year, getting the young Holsteins at 350 pounds from a farmer in Northern Indiana. While the Holstein breed grows slower than some breeds, Aaron notes their meat tends to grade better.
While the family raises row crops as well as cattle, the crops are sold and the Aults buy back by-products to feed the cattle. “We feed ground hominy, soy hull pellets, dried distillers grains, corn silage, earlage, wheat straw, and distiller’s syrup.” Aaron says.
Getting the work done on the farm is a family affair with Carl, in his 70s, still playing an integral role. Carl credits his dad, Miller Ault (Aaron’s grandfather) as the original driving force behind the long-term success of the farm. “My dad’s mom died when he was very young, so my grandfather Miller would put my dad in a baby carrier in the ear corn wagon. He has been on the farm his whole life,” Aaron says.
Aaron’s mother, Rita, who retired as Lab Director at a local hospital, does the farm’s accounting work. Aaron’s wife Laura and their kids Alex (18), Audrey (15), Annabelle (13), and Asher (10) are all involved with the operation. Aaron’s sister April’s family also works on the farm, including her husband Shane Grubb, son Zane (12), and daughter Zoe (10). “We all get along well and figure out how to get things done,” Aaron says, who goes to the Purdue campus one day a week.
The family is dedicated to caring for the land and the cattle and look forward to sharing about their family farm with fairgoers as Featured Farmers. “When people are not familiar with something, they can make negative assumptions based on a few data points they have seen on the internet,” Aaron says. “We can share the reality and once you know a farmer a little you can understand how we keep our cattle healthy and comfortable.”