June 25, 2026

By Lisa Abelar

The 665 acres of rural Arizona farmland that has been in Dax Hansen’s family for generations has had many lives. Most recently, it was a cotton farm. It’s also the site of the historical Oatman massacre, historic trails, early cattle ranching and homesteading. And hundreds of years ago, it was farmed by indigenous communities.  

Its latest incarnation takes the form of a Regenerative Organic Certified farm growing heirloom grains, the first of its kind in the American Southwest.

“There’s so much history,” Hansen said. “People have been living here for thousands of years.”

Over those years, climate change and a falling water table have made cotton farming — a water intensive endeavor — challenging. Hansen’s extended family were unable to continue the operations. Tied to the land’s history, and the nostalgia it ignites in him from his childhood, Dax and his wife Leslie decided to step in and take it over. 

There had to be an alternative way to care for the land and keep farming viable, they thought.

“I remember how beautiful it was as a kid,” he said of the farm he now owns about 30 miles west of the small town of Gila Bend. “We knew we needed a new approach to farming, so we decided to lean into the White Sonoran Wheat that has been adapted to our region. It was probably growing right there on our farm 250 years ago.”

Seven years after purchasing the land from his family, Oatman Farms is now one of the only Regenerative Organic Certified growers of heirloom, desert-adapted grains in the country. From those grains came a line of Oatman Farms flours, pancake mixes and vanilla extract. And from those ingredients and community engagement came partnerships that led to the development of Oatman Farms baked goods, used in schools and in Phoenix-area bakeries and restaurants.

“We’re building out the Regenerative Organic Certified supply chain,” Hansen said. 

And they’ve gained fans. Hansen’s favorite? A student in a nearby district who showed up to the cafeteria during Oatman Farms baked goods testing, saying “I’m here for the bread.” 

While those kudos are heartwarming to receive, Dax and his wife Leslie are focused on building not only a successful regenerative organic farm, but a resilient regenerative organic grain infrastructure that allows people to feel good about what they’re eating and feeding their families. 

They’re committed to building a healthy, sustainable food future for Arizona. The only thing missing was more control over logistics. The need for refrigeration made Oatman Farms reliant on third-party support for transport and increased costs for off-site storage when it was needed.

A grant opportunity, available through the USDA’s now-discontinued Regional Food Business Center program, appealed to the Oatman Farms team. They applied for it and Local First Arizona, an organization that promotes entrepreneurship and economic development and administered the funds, chose Oatman Farms and two other operations to receive the three available grants.

The Regional Food Business Center program was developed in 2022 by the USDA to build resilience in local and regional food systems and ultimately minimize vulnerability to supply chain disruptions. The program strengthened national security, enhanced local competitiveness, and created new market opportunities by investing in local farmers and food businesses.

With 12 centers across the country, the $400 million program was terminated by the Trump Administration in mid-2025. The grant funds for Oatman Farms had already been allocated at the time the program was terminated. 

Since receiving the funds, Oatman Farms purchased freezers to be used by retail partners, a refrigerated shipping container for the farm, reusable bread trays for transport and a pallet wrapper. Those additions give Oatman Farms more autonomy over their supply chain, while leaving them less dependent on distributor timelines. And it all came in under $100,000.

“If we’re able to reduce expenses and control our own destiny, it allows us to be more efficient in how we run the business and allows us to use the farm more as a hub,” he said. “We’re building the local regenerative food network that originates at the farm and uses local partners and infrastructure to get the food from point A to point B.”

It also frees up space.

Before receiving the grant funding, Oatman Farms added a stone mill to its operation. And it’s sizable. The upside was being able to grow, harvest, mill and sell their own grains, without third-party support. The downside was that the size of the mill ate into the only space available for cold storage and packing. 

With a pallet wrapper in place and a container available for cold storage, the farm can process, wrap and store pallets of goods until they’re ready to ship. 

“Let’s say COVID happened today. It’s now a super tight supply chain. You can go from wheat berries to baked goods in a matter of two weeks and it maintains its nutrition,” he said. “We’re making our local economy and our food system more resilient, but also more fresh. It’s made from Regenerative Organic Certified food. Who does that?”