[1] It is located alongside Interstate 5 at its intersection with State Route 198 east of Coalinga, in the San Joaquin Valley of central California.

[1] The ranch supplies the hamburger meat for the In-N-Out Burger chain, and also distributes beef and prepared meals through grocery stores and restaurants nationwide.

[1] 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 and Los Angeles.

[15] The ranch is known to travelers for the "ripe, tangy odor of cow manure", described alternately as a "horrible stench"[16] and "a good, honest, American smell".

[17] This smell inspired food writer Michael Pollan to conduct the research on factory farming that led to his sustainability book, The Omnivore's Dilemma.

[16] The owner of Harris Ranch, in turn, threatened to withhold a $500,000 donation to California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo if it sponsored a speech there by Pollan.