SAN LUIS OBISPO – Cal Poly's agriculture department is no longer just about cows.

Students in the College of Agriculture at California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo, can get a bachelor's degree in wine and viticulture starting this spring.

The new major will focus on blending viticulture, enology and the business aspects of the wine industry in a degree program aimed at producing graduates ready to step right into careers in California's multibillion-dollar wine industry, Dean of Agriculture David Wehner said.

California is the world's fourth largest grape producer, behind France, Italy and Spain.

"With the addition of the wine and viticulture major, Cal Poly's College of Agriculture is now poised to offer students a unique and powerful hands-on education in all aspects of the wine industry," Wehner said.

CSU Chancellor Charles Reed granted approval for the program in a Feb. 13 letter to Cal Poly President Warren J. Baker. Cal Poly added a wine and viticulture minor in 1999.

The college is currently partnering with E&J Gallo on a 152-acre, state-of-the-art vineyard on Cal Poly property. It also offers a wine analysis laboratory certified by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. Students in the new degree program will have the use of both.