The beef program at Cal Poly manages many animal science department facilities. The beef program manages approximately 4,000 acres of San Luis Obispo County rangeland. Beef cattle also graze on 1,900 acres of the 3,200-acre Swanton Pacific Ranch in Davenport, Calif. The animal science department maintains a bull test facility and a beef cattle evaluation center.
 The
new beef center, located on Escuela Ranch, was completed in 2006 and
was first showcased at the 50th Annual Bull Test and Quarter Horse
sale. This new facility centralizes Cal Poly's beef program for
production, teaching and research; provides optimal location for Cal
Poly's Bull Test and heifer development program; expands the
artificial insemination training facility for student training and
industry workshops; provides needed facilities to support embryo
transfer teaching and research activities; and provides an
opportunity for industry to co-sponsor educational workshops and
research projects.
Back to top
 Cattle lined up by fenceThe Cal Poly Beef Cattle Evaluation Center is used for both applied feedlot research projects and progeny testing of Cal Poly and outside cattle. This facility includes 16 pens with a maximum capacity of 200 head of cattle.
Back to top
Parker Barn is used each fall to calve out first-calf heifers. Commercial and purebred heifers are brought to Parker Barn in August and stay until late October, when they have calved. Three pastures surround the barn. The pastures allow for grouping of the cattle according to calving date. Students on the Heifer Calving Enterprise manage these cattle and use a feeding system to encourage daylight calving.
Back to top
 The purebred herd grazes the Peterson and Serrano ranches, which cover approximately 1,500 acres of Poly Canyon. The purebred herd calves each fall on Serrano Ranch. The herd spends the rest of the year rotating through Peterson and Serrano ranches. Both ranches use a rest-rotational grazing method. The ranches are located immediately adjacent to campus, which allows students to visit the ranches during class. Students living in agricultural housing manage the Peterson and Serrano ranches.
Back to top
 The Escuela and Walters ranches encompass approximately 2,500 acres of native rangeland located eight miles north of the Cal Poly campus. The commercial herd, which is managed by Escuela Cow-Calf enterprise students, grazes the two ranches. These ranches were part of a paired watershed study that researched the effects of various grazing management techniques on the Morro Bay Estuary. Numerous students participated in gathering and processing data during the 10-year study.
Back to top
 This ranch is used by the animal science department and the crop science department. The animal science department uses this ranch to graze purebred heifers both before and immediately after calving. The cattle graze native range and crop residue. Currently the ranch has a small working facility. Follow the Facilities Relocation Update link for information on the project to relocate the Bull Test to Chorro Creek Ranch and create a Beef Center at Chorro Creek Ranch.
Back to top
 Al Smith, the founder of Orchard Supply Hardware, donated the Swanton Pacific Ranch to the Cal Poly College of Agriculture in 1987. Numerous departments take advantage of the 3,200-acre Swanton Pacific Ranch to enhance the educational quality of courses and projects. These departments include: animal science, crop science and natural resource management. The animal science department manages the grazing operations at Swanton Pacific Ranch. Each February, 500 stocker cattle are brought to the ranch to graze for five months; students on the Swanton Enterprise project manage these cattle. A small herd of mother cows is maintained at the ranch and is managed by student interns. An internship at Swanton Pacific is open to any Cal Poly student interested in learning ranch management. In addition to grazing cattle, the ranch manages organic cropland and a redwood forest. Student interns are involved in all aspects of the ranch.
Back to top
|
