meet your neighbors
The Big Boys By Terry Ropp
Aaron Ross began showing Brahmans as a boy and enjoys the breed
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Photos by Terry Ropp
For Aaron Ross, agriculture is both his career and his hobby. Aaron has been a program associate for weed science since 2014. During growing seasons, he compares herbicides and weed control products in a manner similar to Consumer Reports. Aaron constructs totally unbiased rankings of different products so farmers can make an informed, science-based decision on what to use. Once the workday is over, Aaron goes to the farm where he is in partnership with his grandfather Clarence. They manage 400 acres of owned and leased land in Ward, Ark. The farm contains two herds, one commercial and the other Brahman. The Brahman herd is Aaron’s hobby. How Brahmans first came to the Ross farm is a favorite family story. Clarence and his wife Pat met in Beebe when he was showing dairy cattle. After the couple married, Pat cheekily asked Clarence what was the purpose of having dairy cattle if you’re not going to milk them. Clarence immediately quipped he did not want a 24/7 job and asked her what she thought he should do. Pat quickly retorted that perhaps he should get Brahmans, and so he did. The current Brahman herd is made up of 18 registered females and one registered bull. Aaron grew up around the breed and started showing when he was three. Through the years, he sometimes competed at bigger shows, that is with more Brahmans, to see how their Brahmans measured up against those from bigger breeders. Once, while attending a show in Tulsa, someone asked then 10-year-old Aaron why he came all the way to Tulsa to show. Without hesitaAaron Ross, pictured with his wife Jennifer, has a tion, Aaron replied, “We come to Tulsa to play with the big boys.” Brahman show string and breeding program in Through the years Aaron came to appreciate the breed as much as addition to a commercial herd with his grandfather he loved showing them. Brahmans are perhaps best known for heat Clarence. tolerance, and while Arkansas may not be as hot as Texas, the temperatures in central Arkansas can get pretty warm. Aaron said one advantage of heat tolerance is that Brahmans are not wading in the “I try to keep bulls until maturity, which in a Brahman, is 2 years water, and graze more rather than laying in the shade. One reason of age. One result is the bull has been places, seen things and is a big very visible reason for that heat tolerance is their thick, loose skin. puppy dog for prospective buyers. I schedule my calving in winter so “The folds of skin may look funny, but Brahmans do sweat which I can get three years of showing instead of two out of the show string, cools them,” Aaron explained. “The sweat also serves as a natural but tend to have a few calves in the spring and summer.” insect repellent, more effective for preventing illnesses such as the Aaron likes to keep the heifers, but Clarence taught him everyWest Nile virus from mosquitoes and eliminating flies.” thing is for sale. This means Aaron will sell a heifer, but the price The purpose of Aaron’s Brahman herd is to provide show animals has to be fair. Calves are weaned at 4 to 6 months, depending upon since he still loves showing. The last two years of high school, he size or if a calf is pulling a cow’s health down. Calves are fed a 13showed at fairs and jackpots every weekend during show to 14- percent custom mix with a formula Aaron develseason and traveled 5,000 miles within Arkansas. Conoped and the local feed store balanced. The calves are sequently, showing became less fun and Aaron wanted fed as much as they will eat. Currently he has six calves Ward, Ark. to regain that sense of fun. in the barn consuming anywhere from 16 to 30 pounds “As a guard against letting showing get out of hand of feed a day, depending on age and size. again, I now keep the herd small with no more than The other side of the Ross farm is a commercial herd with eight show animals at a time made up of bulls and heif40 heavily Angus-influenced cows, 70 percent of which are ers under 3 years old. black. Because black sells better, the goal is to produce black Ozarks Farm & Neighbor • www.ozarksfn.com
FEBRUARY 22, 2021
