Dan is a fifth generation Coloradan and a first generation farmer. He also serves as lead cooperative development specialist with the Rocky Mountain Farmers Union Cooperative Development Center. He has over twenty years agricultural and rural development experience in the United States and South America and formerly served as executive director of Organic Seed Alliance, NewFarms and Nuestras Raices. He is skilled in organizing producer cooperatives and other member-driven businesses. He and his wife, Nanna, own and operate two irrigated farms in southern Colorado and northern New Mexico, where they grow varietal garlic, Pueblo chilé, open pollinated seeds, ancient grains, and fresh vegetables and herbs.