diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index e33f7077..d42db549 100755
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -182,4 +182,5 @@ catboost_info/catboost_training.json
 *.tar
 *.zip
 
-.notebook-tests/
\ No newline at end of file
+.notebook-tests/
+.local-presto-test/
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/scripts/inference/cropland_mapping_local.py b/scripts/inference/cropland_mapping_local.py
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..0c36039f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/scripts/inference/cropland_mapping_local.py
@@ -0,0 +1,47 @@
+"""Perform cropland mapping inference using a local execution of presto.
+
+Make sure you test this script on the Python version 3.9+, and have worldcereal
+dependencies installed with the presto wheel file installed with it's dependencies.
+"""
+
+from pathlib import Path
+
+import requests
+import xarray as xr
+from openeo_gfmap.features.feature_extractor import (
+    EPSG_HARMONIZED_NAME,
+    apply_feature_extractor_local,
+)
+
+from worldcereal.openeo.feature_extractor import PrestoFeatureExtractor
+
+TEST_FILE_URL = "https://artifactory.vgt.vito.be/artifactory/auxdata-public/worldcereal/presto/localtestdata/local_presto_inputs.nc"
+TEST_FILE_PATH = Path.cwd() / "presto_test_inputs.nc"
+
+
+if __name__ == "__main__":
+    if not TEST_FILE_PATH.exists():
+        print("Downloading test input data...")
+        # Download the test input data
+        with requests.get(TEST_FILE_URL, stream=True, timeout=180) as response:
+            response.raise_for_status()
+            with open(TEST_FILE_PATH, "wb") as f:
+                for chunk in response.iter_content(chunk_size=8192):
+                    f.write(chunk)
+
+    print("Loading array in-memory...")
+    arr = (
+        xr.open_dataset(TEST_FILE_PATH)
+        .to_array(dim="bands")
+        .drop_sel(bands="crs")
+        .astype("uint16")
+    )
+
+    print("Running presto UDF locally")
+    features = apply_feature_extractor_local(
+        PrestoFeatureExtractor,
+        arr,
+        parameters={EPSG_HARMONIZED_NAME: 32631, "ignore_dependencies": True},
+    )
+
+    features.to_netcdf(Path.cwd() / "presto_test_features.nc")
diff --git a/src/worldcereal/openeo/feature_extractor.py b/src/worldcereal/openeo/feature_extractor.py
index 40dde71a..08b8f2f0 100644
--- a/src/worldcereal/openeo/feature_extractor.py
+++ b/src/worldcereal/openeo/feature_extractor.py
@@ -18,6 +18,8 @@ class PrestoFeatureExtractor(PatchFeatureExtractor):
       specified, should be set as `False`.
     """
 
+    import functools
+
     PRESTO_MODEL_URL = "https://artifactory.vgt.vito.be/artifactory/auxdata-public/worldcereal-minimal-inference/presto.pt"  # NOQA
     PRESO_WHL_URL = "https://artifactory.vgt.vito.be/artifactory/auxdata-public/worldcereal/dependencies/presto_worldcereal-0.1.1-py3-none-any.whl"
     BASE_URL = "https://s3.waw3-1.cloudferro.com/swift/v1/project_dependencies"  # NOQA
@@ -41,6 +43,7 @@ class PrestoFeatureExtractor(PatchFeatureExtractor):
         "AGERA5-PRECIP": "precipitation-flux",
     }
 
+    @functools.lru_cache(maxsize=6)
     def unpack_presto_wheel(self, wheel_url: str, destination_dir: str) -> list:
         import urllib.request
         import zipfile
@@ -73,6 +76,14 @@ def execute(self, inarr: xr.DataArray) -> xr.DataArray:
         )
         presto_wheel_url = self._parameters.get("presot_wheel_url", self.PRESO_WHL_URL)
 
+        ignore_dependencies = self._parameters.get("ignore_dependencies", False)
+        if ignore_dependencies:
+            self.logger.info(
+                "`ignore_dependencies` flag is set to True. Make sure that "
+                "Presto and its dependencies are available on the runtime "
+                "environment"
+            )
+
         # The below is required to avoid flipping of the result
         # when running on OpenEO backend!
         inarr = inarr.transpose("bands", "t", "x", "y")
@@ -87,16 +98,14 @@ def execute(self, inarr: xr.DataArray) -> xr.DataArray:
         inarr = inarr.fillna(65535)
 
         # Unzip de dependencies on the backend
-        self.logger.info("Unzipping dependencies")
-        deps_dir = self.extract_dependencies(self.BASE_URL, self.DEPENDENCY_NAME)
-        self.logger.info("Unpacking presto wheel")
-        deps_dir = self.unpack_presto_wheel(presto_wheel_url, deps_dir)
-
-        self.logger.info("Appending dependencies")
-        sys.path.append(str(deps_dir))
-
-        # Debug, print the dependency directory
-        self.logger.info("Dependency directory: %s", list(Path(deps_dir).iterdir()))
+        if not ignore_dependencies:
+            self.logger.info("Unzipping dependencies")
+            deps_dir = self.extract_dependencies(self.BASE_URL, self.DEPENDENCY_NAME)
+            self.logger.info("Unpacking presto wheel")
+            deps_dir = self.unpack_presto_wheel(presto_wheel_url, deps_dir)
+
+            self.logger.info("Appending dependencies")
+            sys.path.append(str(deps_dir))
 
         from presto.inference import (  # pylint: disable=import-outside-toplevel
             get_presto_features,