Hello, I’m Christine Hathaway, and I’ve lived in the Kalona area with my husband Tim Yoder for the past 4 years. We moved here from the Omaha area, and have a small one acre farm just west of town and are loving country life.I grew up in rural Nebraska where farmland and livestock were plentiful, so I really appreciate the opportunity to return to rural living after spending so many years in the “city”.

I started working for Open Gates in July of 2024. I’ve been an accountant for over 25 years, spending most of that time doing regulatory reporting for life and health insurance companies. But my first job out of college was as an accountant with a feed manufacturing company, so it’s been a pleasure to return to the agriculture industry within the local community.

As an accountant at Open Gates, I support Kalona Farms by ensuring the producer payroll is completed twice a month. I review manifests, pricing, and final statements for both the advance and final payrolls. I also process the payments of the bills weekly, review the inventory transactions monthly, and produce the monthly financial statements for review. I really enjoy working here, for both the work I get to do and the people I’ve been able to meet.