Our Story

Davis Smith is the founder and owner of Raising Oxen. Trained as a sommelier, Davis has spent much of his career in the wine industry learning about how agriculture and climate affect grape vines and how these factors lead to the wine that ultimately ends up in your glass. He began baking bread as a hobby in his home kitchen and it soon became part of his weekly routine. As he applied his study habits and learned more he discovered that there are nearly as many varieties of wheat as there are grapes and that place and climate affect them both similarly. It is thanks to a small cohort of dedicated farmers – who have saved these seeds year after year – that we still have access to this diversity. Raising Oxen mills whole grain and whole wheat flours fresh to order and uses them as a vehicle to highlight these heroic acts of agricultural conservation and get people thinking more about this plant that has played such a huge part in sustaining humankind.

Our Name

Oxen are draft animals that have long been utilized in the practice of agriculture. They (along with horses) have plowed and tilled fields where important crops have been grown and they have even provided the power necessary to turn historic stone mills that were used to grind grain into flour across many parts of the world. Raising these animals is not an easy task. They can be stubborn and headstrong and the endeavor is ultimately a long-term labor of love. However, with enough patience and persistence, the rewards can be great. This is how Davis views the venture that is Raising Oxen, one that will be frustrating at times but one that he believes will render bounties that outweigh the struggles and provide us all an avenue through which we can connect with our food and drink – our products of agriculture – more deeply.