Matt Weir / The Collegian

Students take care of animals ‘as if they were their own’

Fresno State’s campus farm — complete with horse stables, a meat processing plant, a swine and beef unit, a dairy plant and even an on-site veterinary facility — operates as a small slice of rural agriculture amidst urban sprawl.

Students might forget that a 1,100-acre campus farm exists. Yet, the familiar smell of manure in the morning may remind them that the university is, indeed, a farm school.

From the outside, the farm may appear to be just an extension of the campus. However, students from the many ag department programs do their best to maintain the farm̢۪s production.

Students Matt Avila, a 24-year-old senior transfer from Merced, and Zack Sayler, a 21-year-old junior transfer from the University of Idaho, are two of the few dozen people who help operate and maintain the farm.

Avila works as the herdsman manager on the farm̢۪s beef unit, a student-run enterprise that breeds and sells cattle. Sayler serves as an assistant in the feeding lot.

Located just off of Barstow Avenue, the unit sits tucked in between the horse unit, which is easily visible from the street, and the swine unit.

“It’s like most people forget about us back here,â€Â Sayler said.

“But I don’t mind it. It’s like having our own little niche — an environment that is completely ours.â€Â

Daily routine

However, their work space is not without its share of duties.

Matt Weir / The Collegian

The two, along with the three other students who work in the beef unit, begin their days promptly at 7 a.m., when they prep the cattle for feeding.

“We mix the feed right here on campus,â€Â Avila said, describing one of their several daily chores.

“We give them a special mixture of corn, alfalfa, wheat hay, corn-silage and liquid ‘mol’ mix. It ensures that they get the proper vitamins and minerals so that they’re healthy overall.â€Â

Sayler and Avila then must check the health of all the cattle, clean the equipment and the feedlots, and keep scrupulous track of the cattle and feeding records. They must also oversee the birthing process and grooming of the cattle.

“It’s a lot that goes on here that people don’t see,â€Â Avila said.

Taking pride in their work

The two say that their work is fun and that it gives them valuable experience that they may otherwise not receive. “We take pride in what we do,â€Â said Sayler, who would eventually like to breed bucking bulls as a professional stock contractor.

Avila, who eventually would like to sell vaccines for a major retailer like Pfizer, said that people come in and check the cattle all the time.

“The farm sits just off of Chestnut, so everyone can see what’s going on,â€Â Avila said.

“We have to keep the cattle and the unit in the best possible shape,â€Â Avila said.

“We take care of this herd as if it were our own. If the beef unit looks bad, we look bad, and it would reflect bad on the school. It’s a chain reaction.â€Â

Likewise, the two say that working on campus is convenient and flexible.

“We work when our schedule allows for it, but we keep the cattle to a strict schedule,â€Â Sayler said. “So we can’t interrupt that.â€Â

Matt Weir / The Collegian

The ranching life

The beef unit raises purebred Angus and Charolais cattle, rearing the cattle from bull-calves to 18 months of age. Avila, who assists in breeding the cattle through artificial insemination, said, “We breed in spring, then turn them out to natural pasture and bring them back in the fall.â€Â

Currently, the farm has 41 Charolais and 29 Angus on site. When the male offspring come of age, the unit then sells them to commercial buyers or enters the show-quality cattle in national competition.

Avila, who also helps oversee the records of the facility, said the beef unit made more than $55,200 during its annual Red Wave Steer Sale, when 40 calves were sold.

Although young, the two ag business majors are veterans when it comes to rearing cattle.

“I’ve been running cattle since I can remember,â€Â Sayler said. “My family has been in the ranching business for generations. It’s kinda my way of life.â€Â

Avila also grew up around cattle on his family̢۪s purebred Angus cattle ranch.

“I’ve been around cattle all my life,â€Â he said. “I guess I’ve been kinda bred into it. It’s not all I know, but it’s what I like best.â€Â

“I enjoy working here more than going to class,â€Â Avila admitted. “But we’re here to go to school and we know, as of now, that it is our main priority.â€Â

Sayler agreed. “I’d rather be outside working with the animals than behind a desk.â€Â