BACKGROUND

The Oklahoma Local Ag Summit (OKLAS) is facilitated by the Oklahoma Department of Agriculture, Food and Forestry and the ONIE Project. Langston University, USDA and key stakeholders from agricultural, community and public health agencies have collaborated and supported this project. The summit is funded by the USDA Specialty Crop Block Grant.

ABOUT

The focus of OKLAS is to increase the availability of local food in Oklahoma communities and strengthen farmers markets and agritourism sites through education and networking opportunities. 

The summit is three days long starting with in-depth workshops on the first day, including hands-on marketing training and a workshop sharing best farm practices. The second day is the full summit with more than 20 breakout sessions. Lastly, an agritourism bus tour and innovative farm bus tour are offered on day three. 

Most of the events associated with the summit are free to attend; however, registration is required for each event.

The conference has five tracks addressing topics of special interest to farmers market managers, growers, agritourism producers, Christmas tree growers, and community support organizations. Topics include

• Accepting SNAP/EBT
• Growing practices
• Marketing to consumers
• And more

CURRENT EFFORTS & SUCCESS

OKLAS is coming up on its 10th year and has reached over a thousand participants from all over the state. The number of registered farmers markets has grown exponentially as well as those registered to accept EBT. There are over 400 agritourism producers in Oklahoma and expanding due to the knowledge and network provided at the summit.