Gift of preserved, productive San Luis Obispo County agricultural land expands Learn by Doing opportunities while honoring family’s longstanding legacy

SAN LUIS OBISPO, Calif.—The historic 390-acre Brughelli Ranch, located just south of the San Luis Obispo County Regional Airport, will become Cal Poly’s newest agricultural land following the Brughelli Estate land donation to the university.

Brughelli Ranch is a working agricultural property in San Luis Obispo, rich in history, productive farmland and water resources. For Cal Poly, the gift offers hundreds of acres of farmland near campus where students can apply classroom knowledge in real-world environments and collaborate with growers, industry partners and researchers.

“This is an extraordinary opportunity to provide our students with a place where agriculture, conservation and natural resource stewardship come together,” said Cal Poly President Jeffrey D. Armstrong. “The ranch has been cared for by generations before us, and now Cal Poly will continue that stewardship while preparing students to care for California’s working landscapes in the future.”

For 150 years, the ranch has supported leafy greens agriculture, livestock, irrigated cropland and dry farming with additional plantable acreage available. About 60% of the ranch is defined by the U.S. Department of Agriculture as prime agricultural land, including 100 acres of irrigated Class I soils that support a broad range of crops. Existing irrigated-land leases with established farming operators continue to support active agricultural operations and provide a revenue base.

The farmstead fronts Buckley Road, named for former owner William Buckley, and extends between Davenport Creek Road and Jespersen Road. Irrigated cropland occupies the northern portion of the ranch, while additional dry-farm and plantable acreage extend south and west across gently rolling terrain. The San Luis Creek and Buckley Creek cross portions of the property, and the ranch’s water infrastructure includes four interconnected wells and a 7-acre reservoir.

The Brughelli land is permanently protected through an agricultural conservation easement, established in 2015 by the Ercole and Naomie Brughelli Trust in partnership with the city of San Luis Obispo and the Land Conservancy of San Luis Obispo County. The property is also enrolled in the Williamson Act, reinforcing its long-term agricultural identity.

The gift will expand Cal Poly’s Learn by Doing student experiences and faculty research. The property will be managed in accordance with the conservation easement, Williamson Act requirements, the donor’s intentions and Cal Poly’s Learn by Doing mission.

The ranch’s history dates to a U.S. government land patent acquired by John Anderson in July 1875. William Buckley later acquired the ranch, followed by Dave McKeen around 1882. Aurelio Brughelli began working on the ranch in 1928 and acquired it two decades later from the McKeen estate.

Aurelio’s son, Ercole Charles Brughelli, was born on the ranch in 1928 and remained closely connected with the land throughout his 95 years. Ercole grew up there and, after serving in the U.S. Army during the Korean War (where he received a Purple Heart), he returned to the family farm. He married Naomie Jones in 1965. For the next 40 years the couple managed the ranch, often working with local youth interested in agriculture and the environment. Following the deaths of Naomie in 2008 and Ercole in 2023, the Brughelli estate trustees have managed the ranchland.

“The Brughelli Ranch and Cal Poly both have deep roots in San Luis Obispo — and when it came time to decide how to ensure our land’s vitality into the future, Cal Poly was the clear choice,” said Brughelli Trustee Mark Amos. “We are excited to see how future Cal Poly students will learn on this land and then take that learning forward into their careers and positively impact California, the nation and the world.”

At more than 10,000 acres, Cal Poly maintains the largest agricultural holdings of any university in California and is among the largest land-holding universities in the U.S. Cal Poly’s land includes several thousand acres of core campus and adjacent agricultural land as well as several nearby ranches in San Luis Obispo County, the 3,200-acre Swanton Pacific Ranch in Santa Cruz County and the 92-acre Cal Poly Solano Campus, home of the Cal Poly Maritime Academy in Vallejo, Calif.