Story & Heritage
When purchased in 2010, what is now Green Gate Family Farm was part of an Amish family farm. They raised cattle, hay, sweet corn and melons conventionally, and they started a small orchard and some garden plots of vegetables to feed their family. After the purchase, we immediately went through a required “transition period” from their conventional farming to our organic production (no more synthetic fertilizers and pesticides were used on this farm!). We also needed to do a lot of infrastructure work on the property. The existing family house was fairly new, but there was no electricity on the property at all, meaning no hot water in the house! So while moving in and opening lots of boxes, we also started running all the electric lines through the basement, bathrooms, kitchen, and bedrooms, and we added a hot water heater.
Another thing that happened in the summer of 2010 was that Ken and Kate met on a farm tour organized by Lincoln University. By the spring of 2011, GGFF was selling produce at the Sedalia Farmers Market, and then moved over to selling our fruit, produce and eggs at Brookside Farmers Market later that year. On Dec 7, 2013, Ken and Katie went to the Mt. Baker Snoqualmie National Forest in Washington and tied the knot on the banks of the Nooksack River in the snow, sleet and occasional sunshine on a beautiful day all around.
GGFF has been Certified Organic since April 2014 by the State of Oklahoma Department of Agriculture, Food and Forestry (ODAFF), covering our entire 67 acres, and all of our produce and bedding plants. Since then, we have added a new water well, and an in-ground irrigation to our fields and growing areas, as well as three 30’ by 96’ long high-tunnels and a 30’ by 48’ heated greenhouse.
This farm is our home and our business.
Katie Nixon
Katie Nixon is a farmer and local food systems champion who has been working with and for food producers for over 15 years. She co-operates Green Gate Family Farm, a certified Organic diversified market farm where they produce vegetables, fruits, bedding plants, eggs and flowers. Katie is a founding member and current President of the KC Food Hub, a farmer-owned and farmer-run cooperative serving the wholesale market. For New Growth, Katie serves as the Food Systems Director for New Growth and Co-Director of the Heartland Regional Food Business Center. In this role, she has brought in over $5 million in USDA and other funding to improve the regional food system. Katie has participated in sustainable food and farming work in Washington, Ireland, South Africa, Mexico, and New Zealand. In 2024, she completed her Zhi-Xing China Eisenhower Fellowship.
Education: HS: Bishop Miege High School; Western Washington University, P.L.A.N.E.T. Organic- New Zealand
Current and Recent Work (other than farming):
Food Systems Director- New Growth- www.newgrowthmo.org
Co-Director- Heartland Regional Food Business Center (led by New Growth)- www.heartlandfoodbusiness.org
Farmer Owner and President, Board of Directors- The Kansas City Food Hub (AKA Fresh Farm HQ)(present)- www.thekcfoodhub.com
Vice President- Missouri Farmers Union
Past Chair (‘23), Administration Council- North Central Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education (SARE) Program- www.sare.org
Eisenhower Agriculture Fellow- Zhi-Xing China program 2024
Keynote speaker for Great Plains Growers Conference and The Nebraska Sustainable Food and Farm Conference (2023).
Ken Barber
1st farm experience- “My grandparents had a small family farm when I was growing up. I spent a lot of summers and holidays there until they moved into town. Even in town, they had a couple of acres, and still grew a lot of food. My grandfather talked to me about plant health and nutrition a lot. He believed that these came together, from strong, healthy soil, which was built largely with good compost and minimal tillage.”
Education:
HS- barely, 1980.
BS- Pathobiology, College of Agriculture, University of Connecticut, 1989.
MS- Zoology, College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, U of Connecticut, 1992.
MSEL- Master’s Studies in Environmental Law, Vermont Law School, 2002.
Previous Work:
Field Biologist- Life cycles of avian parasites in New England; life cycle studies and molecular analysis of the parasites of cattle and humans in Kenya; parasites of sharks and rays from Long Island, Florida Keys, Belize, California, Kenya, Tanzania, Senegal.
Laboratory Biologist- Researched parasite morphology, electron microscopy, and molecular sequencing and analysis.
Biology Instructor- Human Anatomy and Physiology, Microbiology, General Biology, other stuff, part-time/full-time until 2010 (I finally got out!).
