Agriculture at Cal Poly

A briefing paper for Peter Raven

Agriculture has been an integral part of the educational mission at Cal Poly since the institution started as a vocational school. As time passed, the notion that Cal Poly would serve to “train the mind as well as the hands” led to the time-honored mantra of “learn-by-doing” through “hands-on” education. Thus, the study of agriculture at Cal Poly has historically featured many lab classes utilizing the rich resource of our landscape as well as the evolution of “student enterprise projects” wherein students managed various aspects of the farm while receiving academic credit and a share of the profits should they accrue.

Through the majority of its years, the School of Agriculture (then to become the College of Agriculture), was one of the “technology” schools along with Engineering and Architecture, and it existed on the campus with the “support” schools of Science and Math, Liberal Arts, Fine Arts, etc. This duality created its own source of friction within the academy – which exists to this day – and that is the notion as to which are the more important centers of education and therefore deserving of more recognition and support.

Up until the last two decades of the twentieth century, the production departments of Animal Husbandry, Veterinary Science, Poultry Management, Dairy Husbandry, Crop Science, and Ornamental Horticulture dominated the college in budget and student numbers. This would seem appropriate given the definition of agriculture in its strictest sense. However, the 1980’s and ‘90’s saw an increase in the interest in and therefore growth of College of Agriculture departments that were not directly tied to production. These included Agribusiness (which is now the largest department by far), Food Science and Nutrition, and Natural Resource Management, whose Recreation major is its biggest.

Through these years, the demographics of the students have also changed remarkably. In the 1950s the students in what is now the College of Agriculture were most likely to be from agriculture backgrounds and were most likely to be male. They came to Cal Poly to improve their knowledge as to how to run their home operations more efficiently while at the same time, hopefully taking advantage of courses offered outside the College of Agriculture. As time passed, though, the typical student in the College of Agriculture has had increasingly less connection to production agriculture. There are a number of students whose parents make their income from agribusiness ventures, but are not directly involved in the care and management of healthy soil producing food and fiber. More recently, the production departments have had increasing difficulty recruiting the high quality (as defined by GPA and test scores) students as compared with other departments in the college. The ratio of male to female students in the college has shifted dramatically, and in the case of the Animal Science department, the ratio of females to males is over five-to-one – essentially a complete reversal of the numbers in the early 1970’s.

Cal Poly controls the management of thousands of acres of land. Most of it would be classed as rangeland – with a much smaller proportion dedicated to irrigated agriculture which includes pastures, orchards, vines, and other crops. These areas are utilized by faculty and students in order to achieve educational objectives. An increasing number of acres are being managed by off-campus agribusinesses in partnership agreements designed to generate income for the college as well as outside management resources to the campus. This trend is understandable given that new faculty, charged with undertaking research and professional development, are not likely to be qualified or have the time to be responsible for the production activities of the college. Without the guidance of a knowledgeable supervisor, today’s students are ill-equipped to do the farming on their own. This trend is likely to cause a redefinition of “learn-by-doing” as it has been historically applied.

In the past, the state of California funded its public agricultural colleges at a level sufficient to underwrite their agricultural enterprises. As competition for those state funds has increased, public dollars in support of higher education have not kept up and colleges of agriculture and other high cost programs have suffered as a result. Students are now shouldering a greater proportion of the costs of their education. Therefore, Cal Poly, like so many other institutions, has sought increased funding from the private sector. This support has taken many forms, including student scholarships, teaching/technician positions, equipment, supplies, and more. These contributions are not without strings and, as a result, much of what is being taught often reflects the priorities of the external funders.

Sustainable agriculture as an industry has not been a source of significant financial resources to the college. Therefore, the curriculum of the college is largely geared toward the agribusiness model typical of modern US agricultural production. It is often asserted that the future of agriculture is biotechnology – and much is made of the need to further build towards that goal. The prevailing view is very much away from husbandry and towards science, from an agriculture of very complex patterns and relationships to an agriculture of parts and reductionism, and from agriculture as an integral part of a local community to a thing do be done by others at some remote, potentially overseas, location.

There is a strong and growing component within the College of Agriculture that is working to broaden the college’s view of the future of agriculture. Despite few resources, a dedicated group of faculty, staff, and students are making strides towards the demonstration and teaching of sustainable agriculture. From the Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) program with its base in the certified organic fields of the campus farm, to the organic agriculture enterprises, to the holistically managed sheep operations, to workshops and seminars, to the inter-connections with the local community, fledgling efforts are achieving more and more recognition and demonstrating the real-world possibilities for sustainable agriculture.

Cal Poly has a unique opportunity to be a leader amongst the Colleges of Agriculture of the nation because we are not as tied to the established traditions of the land grant system. The flexibility thus afforded opens the door to innovative approaches which are much needed to pursue a sense of sustainability in agriculture. The core groups of those who can show the way are in place. What is most needed is the support and the will of the college leadership to be the guiding influence that our predecessors were in the early part of the last century when it was decided to “teach the mind as well and the hands”.