The UC Hopland Research & Extension Center has been owned by the Regents of the University of California since 1951. The 1950s and 1960s were an era of major sheep production in the North Coast region. The UC-HREC owns the only "range flock" of sheep within the UC system, and used to be one of the smaller commercial flocks in the region,and is now the largest.
Decades of research on sheep have added to the knowledge base of how to increase forage capacity, range production, and lambing-to-market success within the region. Certain facilities, such as sorting chutes and corrals, mixing shelters, and a main lambing barn are all necessary to the success rate of weaning 120 to 140% lamb crop (1.2 to 1.4 lambs per pregnant ewe that reach weaning age... which is about 4-5 months) each year.
Here you see a well-maintained and workable sorting chute and corral as "refurbished" by HREC staff-person Zane Kagley using mostly military surplus materials.
