Bulls enjoying an evening meal at the test site

Cal Poly's Bull Test Unit is the facility that is used every year for the Annual Cal Poly Bull Test Sale. This year marks the 49th Annual Sale and the last time the sale will be held at its current location along Brizzolara Creek. Every May, the university admits over 300 bull calves to compete in the bull test. The calves are processed, weighed, and cared for by students in preparation for the sale. All performance records, health management, feeding, and sale preparations are directed by Cal Poly students. In September, bulls in the top 50% of their contemporary group will be selected for the October sale.

The Bull Test Unit is planned to be moved out to Chorro Ranch in 2006. This new location is nine miles away from central campus. The new unit will have all the basics to perform the bull test and will also accommodate embryo flushing and embryo transfer.

“Because of the distance, labs will have to be cut a half hour short because of the extra drive time that will have to be included in the length of the course.” - Dr. John Beckett

Mike Hall is the senior beef cattle specialist for the animal science department at Cal Poly. He believes that the bull test unit is the heart of the beef unit. Professor Hall said that the positive side of relocating the bull test unit is that there will be all new facilities to work in. Overall, 8 million dollars is being spent to rebuild the facilities. Even though that sounds like a lot of money, Mr. Hall explains that this budget will only result in providing a very basic facility. The past method for constructing and improving the bull test unit was to have the students actually build the unit for minimum wage, which took a longer period of time. Now with the job contracted out, a lot of the 8 million dollar budget for the unit will be going to pay union labor wages which are much higher. But, it will be finished in a shorter time frame.

“One major negative aspect to the relocation of the bull test unit is that our current feed yard will be lost and won’t be replaced in the new units.” -Cal Poly Animal Science Professor

This is the Bull Test lead up corral and squeeze chute, where all the bulls are processed.

When all is said and done, the bull test unit will turn out to be a very basic facility. One disadvantage of the unit being built 9 miles away from the central core of campus, is that it is going to pose as a problem for students attending classes there, especially incoming freshmen. Professor Hall related the situation to any class at Poly, "If you move the lab for any class 9 miles away the school is going to have to figure out how to get the students there and that can be a problem". But Hall says that he understands that progress needs to be made for improving the facility, and part of that progress means that some areas of Cal Poly will suffer more than others. This is just one of those cases.

“It will be difficult for students to reach the new facilities” - Dr. Dan Peterson

View of Pennington Canyon and Chorro Ranch where the new Beef and Bull Test facilities will go (click to read more about the Chorro and Escuela Ranches).

Definitions:

Embryo: The fertilized egg of a vertebrate animal.

Embryo Flush: The process of washing out a cow's uterus to obtain an embryo.

Embryo Transfer: The process of implanting an embryo into a cow's uterus.

Cattle Processing: The act of weighing, measuring, deworming, vaccinating, and treating all cattle at the unit.

Click the picture to go to the Bull Test Enterprise Website

Classes offered in Beef Production:

ASCI 221: Introduction to Beef Production

ASCI 311: Advanced Beef Cattle Systems

ASCI 329: Principles in Range Management

Animal Science Webpage for Beef Production

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