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<\/a>Last year\u2019s summit brought attendees to San Diego County. Now, attendees will get to visit San Luis Obispo. Photo courtesy of Rachael Callahan<\/p>\nMay 28, 2026 \u2014 Oak-studded Paso Robles is known for wine and olive oils, but many local farmers\u2019 livelihoods transcend selling products \u2013 it\u2019s about exporting the California experience.\u00a0<\/p>\n
With its reputation as a pastoral destination, San Luis Obispo County is a natural fit to host the upcoming 2026 California Agritourism Summit, organized by the\u00a0University of California Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education Program<\/a>, part of UC Agriculture and Natural Resources. From Sept. 23\u201325, SLO County will become a hub for agritourism knowledge exchange.\u00a0<\/p>\n Through keynote speakers, panel discussions and breakout sessions, summit participants will gain practical tools and inspiration to strengthen agritourism in California. By visiting local farms, attendees can learn directly from business owners.<\/p>\n Find all the details on the event and register.<\/a><\/p>\n Event organizer\u00a0Rachael Callahan<\/a>, UC SAREP statewide agritourism coordinator, is excited to introduce attendees to the area\u2019s diverse operations.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re going to an urban farm. Then we\u2019ll be out on a big, huge cattle ranch. And an indoor mushroom growing facility,\u201d said Callahan. \u201cSan Luis Obispo just has a lot to offer in terms of scale and products.\u201d<\/p>\n The program is tailored for multiple audiences: current agritourism operators, policymakers, regulators, and tourism and economic development professionals.\u00a0<\/p>\n Growers may take interest in breakout sessions on emergency preparedness or strategies for accessing capital. Tourism and economic development professionals can learn how to attract agritourism to their regions. The networking sessions hosted by event supporter\u00a0California Grown<\/a>\u00a0will bring all stakeholders together while enjoying the state\u2019s agricultural bounty.<\/p>\n According to Callahan, the summit coincides with the agritourism industry receiving increased attention and validation. Last year, California lawmakers\u00a0passed legislation<\/a>\u00a0that streamlines permitting for low-impact camping on private sites. The decision was met with cheer from the agritourism industry, especially growers interested in hosting campers.<\/p>\n \u201cPassing low-impact camping legislation was a big accomplishment,\u201d said Callahan, who hopes the law will inspire conversations and new ideas to facilitate continued growth in the industry. \u201cWhat can we learn? What other pathways can we open up?\u201d<\/p>\n The broad coalition of stakeholders assembled by the summit will offer useful practices for attendees to bring back to their home counties, bolstering agritourism across the state.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s an opportunity for folks to learn what\u2019s been successful elsewhere and what can be adopted or adapted to their region,\u201d Callahan said.<\/p>\n Karen Ross, Secretary of the California Department of Food and Agriculture, weighed in on the potential of agritourism to fortify the state\u2019s farming communities.<\/p>\n \u201cCalifornia is more than the country\u2019s leading agricultural state; it\u2019s where food, family, and farming intersect in powerful ways that consumers can directly experience,\u201d Ross said. \u201cAgritourism adds additional income for farming families while helping people from across the globe learn where their food comes from and connect with some of the people who grow it.\u201d<\/p>\n Lynette Sonne, founder of\u00a0FARMstead ED<\/a>, a summit partner and agritourism nonprofit in San Luis Obispo, expressed gratitude about the summit coming to her county.<\/p>\n \u201cWe look forward to wandering off the beaten path, with new friends and old, to discover urban farms, tucked-away family ranches and hand-crafted goods made right along the trail. These are places shaped by seasons, sweat and tradition,\u201d Sonne said.<\/p>\n For growers or other land managers interested in adding agritourism to their operations, visit the\u00a0California Agritourism website<\/a>\u00a0to learn about getting started in the industry and sign up for the e-newsletter to find local workshops hosted by UC ANR.<\/p>\n The 2026 California Agritourism Summit is organized by UC SAREP in collaboration with the 2026 planning committee, summit supporters and sponsors. Summit co-hosts include California Grown, FARMstead ED\/SLO County Farm Trail, the Governor\u2019s Office of Business and Economic Development (GO-Biz) and Siskiyou Economic Development.<\/p>\n About UC\u00a0Agriculture and Natural Resources To read more\u00a0UC\u00a0ANR\u00a0news, visit our\u00a0newsroom at\u202fucanr.edu\/News<\/a>.\u00a0
UC\u00a0Agriculture and Natural Resources brings\u00a0UC\u00a0information and practices to all 58 California counties. Through research and Cooperative Extension in agriculture, natural resources, economic growth, nutrition and youth development, our mission is to improve the lives of all Californians. Learn more at\u00a0ucanr.edu<\/a>\u00a0and support our work at donate.ucanr.edu<\/a>.<\/p>\n
Follow @UCANR on\u00a0LinkedIn<\/a>,\u00a0Instagram<\/a>,\u00a0X (Twitter)<\/a>,\u00a0Bluesky<\/a>,\u00a0Threads<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0Facebook<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"San Luis Obispo County growers to share agritourism successes at gathering organized by UC SAREP Last year\u2019s summit…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":336106,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[7,9,8,6058],"class_list":["post-336105","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-california","tag-california","tag-california-headlines","tag-california-news","tag-uc-agriculture-and-natural-resources"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/336105","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=336105"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/336105\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/336106"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=336105"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=336105"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=336105"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}