One of the beauties of Cal Poly is the numerous opportunities for students to expand their knowledge and gain hands-on experience. Many of these opportunities are housed in the Animal Science Department in the form of “enterprises,” notably the 64-year-old Cal Poly Bull Test, which is run entirely by students. This enterprise gives students the opportunity to test the genetics of cattle that will eventually become beef sold to customers.
Enterprise courses like Bull Test allow students to apply what they have learned in class to real-world situations. In this enterprise, students are responsible for raising the bulls, practicing proper animal husbandry, and managing the health of the bulls.
Like many operations on the Cal Poly campus, Bull Test had to adapt to the global COVID-19 pandemic. In a normal year, bulls arrive on campus during the last week of April. “Things looked very different this year,” said Bull Test advisor and Animal Science Department faculty member Zach McFarlane. “Our bulls arrived from consigners in the later part of July, which cut down on the duration of our testing,” said McFarlane.
During their time at Cal Poly, bulls are weighed monthly and have their growth rates and genetics tested. Students from the enterprise course then conduct ultrasound tests to determine the animals’ potential for yielding quality beef.
“When ultra-sounding the animals, we’re looking at intramuscular fat and ribeye area,” said McFarlane. “This allows students and buyers to predict the marbling quality of the eventual meat of the animals’ offspring, hopefully making for better quality beef on the plate for consumers.”
However due to the pandemic, the program’s usual procedures had to be adapted. McFarlane worked with the American Angus Association, the American Hereford Association and local producers to determine what genetic traits to use to rank this year’s animals. The group landed on using expected progeny differences, EPD’s, to rate the bulls.
“EPDs serve as a representation of the different genetic predictors of things like calving ease, which are important factors in making sure the animals we choose to breed pass on good genes and traits,” said McFarlane. “Ultimately, these traits lead to healthier animals that produce better beef, so that’s our goal to strengthen herd genetics.”
Photo by Cal Poly Bull Test
Ranking the bulls wasn’t the only hurdle that needed clearing in this unusual year. Along with Aaron Lazanoff, co-advisor of the Bull Test and Cal Poly’s beef operations manager, McFarlane and the students needed to figure out how to safely manage the last step of the annual process the sale.
After discussions with administration and Cal Poly’s Emergency Operations Center, McFarlane and Lazanoff worked with the students to hold the Bull Test’s first-ever hybrid sale a partially online, partially in-person event held on the annual sale day in October at the Oppenheimer Family Equine Center on Cal Poly’s campus.
The change prompted lots of Learn by Doing opportunities for everyone involved. Holding the sale outdoors using this hybrid model allowed for social distancing and use of personal protection equipment so producers, consigners, students and guests could gather safely.
The introduction of digital videos for buyers to view the bulls prior to sale day helped pull off the event. Videos were posted online for buyers to view and help make their decisions about which animals they wanted to bid on at the sale. McFarlane noted the videos were such a success he and Lazanoff plan to use them going forward.
Mahlon Owens, a fourth-year agricultural communications student and member of the Bull Test Enterprise noted how well things went even in the midst of the pandemic. “The turnout was amazing this year. The quality of bulls sold this year was as good if not better than in past years” said Owens. “And we had great attendance, even with COVID-19. We took all the right precautions and still had folks attend. I guess that just shows how much the opportunity for social interaction means to folks.”
Though the 2020 Cal Poly Bull Test was a challenging event to pull off, the team of students, faculty and staff who came together to make it happen see it as a success. “While we definitely hope for a return to a full in-person event next year, we now know how to make tough decisions,” said McFarlane.
Story note: Photos for this story were gathered from a number of sources over the past year during the COVID-19 pandemic. Guidance regarding appropriate safety measures related to the pandemic evolved over the period these photos were taken.