For 125 years, Cal Poly’s College of Agriculture, Food and Environmental Sciences has helped shape the future of farming, food systems and environmental stewardship in California and beyond. Founded in 1901 as part of a new polytechnic school built on hands-on training, the agriculture program began with just a few courses, modest facilities and a bold belief: students learn best by doing. Today, it is the premier training ground for the future.

Across generations, visionary leaders and dedicated changemakers have shaped the college into what it is today — fostering a spirit of growth and resilience while continually forging ahead, ensuring that each new class of graduates is prepared to meet the challenges of an ever-changing world. The result? Alumni who rise to the forefront of their fields — driving innovation, inspiring progress and making a meaningful difference in communities around the globe. 

From its beginnings in fieldwork, livestock care and crop production, the college evolved alongside California’s rise as a global agricultural leader. The college expanded into food science, agribusiness, fire and soil science and environmental management and more — preparing graduates not only to work the land, but to innovate, manage and lead. Modern laboratories, student-run enterprises and cutting-edge research facilities grew from those first acres of instructional farmland.

More than a century later, the bold understanding that there is merit to getting your hands dirty, working hard and experiencing first-hand what it feels like to create change, remains. From prescribed burns to vertical farms, vineyards to global kitchens, Learn by Doing is at the forefront of every program and industry partnership that our students are immersed in.

Generations of alumni credit their hands-on experience — in state-of-the-art labs, working ranches, orchards, vineyards and forests — as the foundation of their careers. The college’s impact reaches beyond industries and continents — united in fellowship and an unyielding desire and readiness to feed, protect and sustain the world.

A Century of Cal Poly Agriculture

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