Harris Ranch, or the Harris Cattle Ranch, feedlot is

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...

's largest

beef Beef is the culinary name for meat from cattle (''Bos taurus''). In prehistoric times, humankind hunted aurochs and later domesticated them. Since that time, numerous breeds of cattle have been bred specifically for the quality or quantit ...

producer, producing of

per year in 2010. It is located alongside

Interstate 5 Interstate 5 (I-5) is the main north–south Interstate Highway on the West Coast of the United States, running largely parallel to the Pacific coast of the contiguous U.S. from Mexico to Canada. It travels through the states of Californi ...

at its intersection with State Route 198 east of

Coalinga Coalinga ( or ) is a city in Fresno County and the western San Joaquin Valley, in central California about 80 miles (128 km) southeast of Salinas. It was formerly known as ''Coaling Station A'', ''Coalingo'', and ''Coalinga Station''. Th ...

, in the

San Joaquin Valley The San Joaquin Valley ( ; es, Valle de San Joaquín) is the area of the Central Valley of the U.S. state of California that lies south of the Sacramento–San Joaquin River Delta and is drained by the San Joaquin River. It comprises seven ...

central California Central California is generally thought of as the middle third of the state, north of Southern California, which includes Los Angeles, and south of Northern California, which includes San Francisco. It includes the northern portion of the S ...

. The

ranch A ranch (from es, rancho/Mexican Spanish) is an area of land, including various structures, given primarily to ranching, the practice of raising grazing livestock such as cattle and sheep. It is a subtype of a farm. These terms are most ofte ...

is owned by Harris Farms.

Description

History

Founded by Jack Harris in 1937, the Harris Ranch Beef Company (now operated by Jack Harris' son

John John is a common English name and surname: * John (given name) * John (surname) John may also refer to: New Testament Works * Gospel of John, a title often shortened to John * First Epistle of John, often shortened to 1 John * Secon ...

) was originally a cotton and grain operation. In the 1970s the ranch opened a burger stand near

. The farm also operates an inn and restaurant, raises fruit and vegetable crops, and breeds

thoroughbred The Thoroughbred is a horse breed best known for its use in horse racing. Although the word ''thoroughbred'' is sometimes used to refer to any breed of purebred horse, it technically refers only to the Thoroughbred breed. Thoroughbreds are ...

horses. Overall, the operation has more than 400 employees. Approximately are devoted to garlic,

broccoli Broccoli (''Brassica oleracea'' var. ''italica'') is an edible green plant in the cabbage family (family Brassicaceae, genus ''Brassica'') whose large flowering head, stalk and small associated leaves are eaten as a vegetable. Broccoli is cla ...

pomegranate The pomegranate (''Punica granatum'') is a fruit-bearing deciduous shrub in the family Lythraceae, subfamily Punicoideae, that grows between tall. The pomegranate was originally described throughout the Mediterranean Basin, Mediterranean re ...

s, and

tomato The tomato is the edible berry of the plant ''Solanum lycopersicum'', commonly known as the tomato plant. The species originated in western South America, Mexico, and Central America. The Mexican Nahuatl word gave rise to the Spanish word ...

es, among 35 types of fruits and vegetables. During the

war on terror The war on terror, officially the Global War on Terrorism (GWOT), is an ongoing international counterterrorism military campaign initiated by the United States following the September 11 attacks. The main targets of the campaign are militant ...

, volunteers from the

, especially Bakersfield, supplied with beef from Harris Ranch, have volunteered to serve steaks to service-members who are OCONUS. In January 2012, an arsonist destroyed fourteen cattle trucks on the ranch. The

Animal Liberation Front The Animal Liberation Front (ALF) is an international, leaderless, decentralized political and social resistance movement that engages in and promotes non-violent direct action in protest against incidents of animal cruelty. It originated in th ...

claimed responsibility.

Marketing and distribution

At over and with a population of over 100,000 cattle, and hundreds harvested daily, the ranch is the largest on the West Coast. It is also among the largest (when including density) in the United States. A

vertically integrated In microeconomics, management and international political economy, vertical integration is a term that describes the arrangement in which the supply chain of a company is integrated and owned by that company. Usually each member of the supply ...

operation, it owns a fleet of trucks that take

cattle Cattle (''Bos taurus'') are large, domesticated, cloven-hooved, herbivores. They are a prominent modern member of the subfamily Bovinae and the most widespread species of the genus ''Bos''. Adult females are referred to as cows and adult ma ...

from several ranches with which it deals, and does its own finishing, slaughtering, and packaging. The ranch supplies the

hamburger A hamburger, or simply burger, is a food consisting of fillings—usually a patty of ground meat, typically beef—placed inside a sliced bun or bread roll. Hamburgers are often served with cheese, lettuce, tomato, onion, pickles, bacon, ...

meat for the

In-N-Out Burger In-N-Out Burger is an American regional chain of fast food restaurants with locations primarily in California and the Southwest. It was founded in Baldwin Park, California, in 1948 by Harry (1913–1976) and Esther Snyder (1920–2006). The ...

chain, and also distributes beef and prepared meals through grocery stores and restaurants nationwide. Harris Ranch was one of the first to build a brand around itself as a specialty niche product, and is credited as a forerunner of companies like Niman Ranch and Dakota Beef.

Restaurant and inn

The restaurant was targeted to local farmers when it opened in 1977, but later became popular as a halfway stop on the busy highway connecting

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish for " Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the fourth most populous in California and 17th ...

and

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, largest city in the U.S. state, state of California and the List of United States cities by population, sec ...

. A 153-room luxury inn was added in 1987. It was built in hacienda-

style Style is a manner of doing or presenting things and may refer to: * Architectural style, the features that make a building or structure historically identifiable * Design, the process of creating something * Fashion, a prevailing mode of clothing ...

. The restaurant evolved into a "farm to fork" concept in the late 2000s, featuring not only beef but wine and other products made locally by the ranch. As of 2008 the restaurant was the 57th busiest in the United States and sixth busiest in California based on gross receipts. The site was chosen for a hydrogen vehicle fuel station as well as one of the first

battery swapping A battery swapping (or switching) station allow electric vehicles to exchange a discharged battery pack for a charged one as an alternative to plugging the vehicle into a charging station. Battery swapping is common in electric forklift applicatio ...

Tesla stations. Later, 18 superchargers were added. Then, in 2021 an expansion of 80 more V3 superchargers was planned for 2022, making it the world's largest supercharger location.

Public reception

The ranch is known to travelers for the "ripe, tangy odor of cow manure", described alternately as a "horrible stench" and "a good, honest, American smell". This smell inspired food writer

Michael Pollan Michael Kevin Pollan (; born February 6, 1955) is an American author and journalist, who is currently Professor of the Practice Non-Fiction and the first Lewis K. Chan Arts Lecturer at Harvard University. Concurrently, he is the Knight Professo ...

to conduct the research on factory farming that led to his sustainability book, ''

The Omnivore's Dilemma ''The Omnivore's Dilemma: A Natural History of Four Meals'' is a nonfiction book written by American author Michael Pollan published in 2006. As omnivores, humans have a variety of food choices. In the book, Pollan investigates the environmental ...

''. The owner of Harris Ranch, in turn, threatened to withhold a $500,000 donation to

California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo (California Polytechnic State University, Cal Poly"Cal Poly" may also refer to California State Polytechnic University, Humboldt in Arcata, California or California State Polytechnic Univ ...

if it sponsored a speech there by Pollan. In reference to the large number of cattle processed at its facilities, some critics have nicknamed the ranch "Cowschwitz", comparing the slaughtering of cattle to the slaughtering of Jews during the Holocaust at the Auschwitz concentration camp. Animal behavior expert

Temple Grandin Mary Temple Grandin (born August 29, 1947) is an American academic and animal behaviorist. She is a prominent proponent for the humane treatment of livestock for slaughter and the author of more than 60 scientific papers on animal behavior. Gra ...

described the nickname as a matter of public misperception, saying that the company "does a great job" of keeping its animals.

Gallery

HarrisRanchInn.jpg, Harris Ranch Inn Cows on ranch.jpg, For most travelers, the feedlot is the most recognizable view (and smell) of Harris Ranch from Interstate 5.

References

External links

Harris Ranch
{{coord, 36.343, N, 120.215, W, display=title Ranches in California Agriculture in California Intensive farming Buildings and structures in Fresno County, California Coalinga, California San Joaquin Valley Hotels in California Restaurants in California Companies based in Fresno County, California Tourist attractions in Fresno County, California