Kate grew up on a pear orchard and beef cattle ranch in Parkdale, Oregon and her family continues to farm there. She graduated from Linfield College with a BS in Biology and played Division 3 soccer there for two seasons. She followed her childhood dream to become a veterinarian and graduated from Michigan State College of Veterinary Medicine in 2004. Kate was introduced to dairy cattle her first year at MSU and has focused on it ever since doing an internship at a 3600-cow dairy for a year, then practicing in Michigan for 8 years as a food animal veterinarian.
She, her husband, their two sons moved to Washington and managed an 800-cow dairy for a year, before moving to Tillamook. Kate managed a mobile dairy vet medicine practice for 3 years until June 2017, when she went to work at Tillamook County Creamery Association as the Director of Farm Engagement.
Her role at TCCA centers around farm services; providing resources and services to Tillamook member farms and maintaining a comprehensive farm assurance plan to insure we are continuously improving our farming practices and supporting the Tillamook brand.
Kate has participated with NMPF FARM Animal Care Program for several years, first as a trained Version 3 evaluator and then joined the NMPF Animal Health and Well-Being (AWHB) committee in 2019 to work on Version 4. She is committed to cows and advocate for them, while being realistic about farm facilities, management, and profitability.
In her spare time, she coaches her sons and watch them play soccer and baseball, raise goats, garden, cook and enjoy living on the Oregon Coast.