Sheep at Cal Poly?

I found it surprisingly difficult to research facts and stats about Cal Poly agriculture. The Cal Poly website is old and outdated; with links embedded deep in the site. As I was looking at the various crop and animal units on campus, I came upon the Sheep Center. It is my first year at Cal Poly so I wasn’t surprised when I come upon on-campus clubs and organizations that I haven’t heard of… but sheep? The fact that Cal Poly has an entire Sheep Center was shocking on it’s own; yet after reading through their website, I was surprised with how much information I found.

“By grazing Cal Poly sheep in their natural environment and by constructing grazing plans around the needs of the wildlife and sheep, the sheep program at Cal Poly no longer needs to vaccinate or deworm their ewes. Additionally, by using these grazing methods, Cal Poly sheep require virtually no supplemental feeding.” (Cal Poly Sheep Center, 2020).

The fact I chose from the Sheep Center page encompasses the impact of the center. Through research and time, the Sheep Center has managed to lower their carbon footprint and associated costs of raising animals. I find this super interesting because I am very interested in the relationship between sustainability and agriculture. I plan on taking up a minor in Sustainable Agriculture and I hope to interact with this exciting unit on campus. I think the information discovered regarding grazing sheep in their natural environment has the possibility to lead all of animal agriculture in a more sustainable route. I also just found the fact that Cal Poly has a sheep unit to be so funny and exciting. I hope that this knowledge will spread throughout campus about all the amazing things the Cal Poly Sheep Center has to offer to both the environment and campus research.

“Sheep Center.” Animal Science Department, California Polytechnic State University, animalscience.calpoly.edu/FacilitiesCenters/sheep_operation.