From Commercial Real Estate to Organic Farming: How Basnett Farms Uses Farmbrite to Grow

For more than 20 years, Kathryn Richardson built a career developing shopping centers in commercial real estate. But outside of work, she found something entirely different brought her joy: growing vegetables in her backyard.

Eventually, that passion inspired a significant career change.

In 2024, Kathryn established Basnett Farms, a 132-acre farm in Bixby, Oklahoma, approximately 15 minutes from Tulsa. Today, the farm produces certified organic vegetables, microgreens, and edible flowers, with plans to expand production as new markets develop.

For Kathryn, becoming a first-generation farmer meant learning how to turn her gardening experience into a successful agricultural business.

"I understand plants and growing vegetables," Kathryn explained. "It's the scaling piece that is the learning curve."

That learning curve included everything from production planning and recordkeeping to organic certification requirements, invoicing, and financial management.

And while Kathryn brought decades of business experience to her new venture, she quickly discovered that managing a growing farm required an entirely different set of systems.

Finding the Right Tools to Manage a Growing Farm

When Basnett Farms first began operations, Kathryn relied on familiar tools to manage the business: Excel spreadsheets, handwritten notes, and calendars.

These systems helped her document crop plantings, harvests, and lot numbers, but they also required considerable manual recordkeeping.

As the farm developed, Kathryn began looking for better ways to organize its operations, particularly the detailed records necessary for organic certification and product traceability.

"In the beginning, we struggled with identifying systems that we wanted to utilize," Kathryn recalled.

Those decisions extended beyond crop production. The farm needed dependable processes for bookkeeping, invoicing, managing potential product recalls, and tracking its growing business.

Interestingly, Kathryn's introduction to Farmbrite came from a relatively specific need. Her organic certifier had encouraged her to begin using QR codes, prompting her to research tools that could generate them. That's when she discovered Farmbrite.

"Initially, it was just I was going to use them for QR codes," Kathryn explained. "But they're now in every facet of our business."

What began as a search for a single tool eventually became a broader approach to managing the farm.

How Basnett Farms Brings Farm Operations Together

Today, Basnett Farms uses Farmbrite across several areas of its operation, including crop management, harvest tracking, sales, and financial reporting.

Kathryn records crop plantings, seed lot information, and harvest details within the platform, helping the farm maintain organized production records. Those records are particularly important for an operation growing certified organic produce and preparing to serve larger commercial buyers.

Farmbrite's custom fields and reporting capabilities also allow Kathryn to organize information needed for organic and Good Agricultural Practices (GAP) certification requirements.

In fact, Basnett Farms recently passed its GAP certification audit, an important milestone as Kathryn prepares to expand into larger wholesale and grocery markets. The farm expects to receive its certificate within approximately 30 days of completing the audit.

Rather than gathering information from multiple spreadsheets, Kathryn can export reports containing the records requested by certification reviewers. For Kathryn, having those records readily available is one of the most important benefits of using the software.

"Having those records is critical," she explained.

Farmbrite has also become a shared resource for the Basnett Farms team. In addition to Kathryn, the farm's accountant and growhouse manager use the platform to support their respective responsibilities.

As the business continues to develop, that shared access helps keep operational and financial information organized.

Making Farm Finances Easier to Manage

Although Kathryn spent more than two decades in commercial real estate, she readily acknowledges that certain aspects of managing a farm business presented unexpected challenges.

One of those was accounts receivable.

"I don't like asking people for money," Kathryn admitted during our conversation.

But ensuring customers pay for the products they've received is essential to maintaining a healthy agricultural business. With Farmbrite, Kathryn can track orders, monitor income, manage invoicing, and access accounts receivable information more easily.

The farm also uses Farmbrite's integration with Stripe to support customer payments. For Kathryn, the benefits extend beyond simply keeping track of outstanding invoices.

Farmbrite's reporting capabilities allow her to provide customers with professional business documents rather than relying on handwritten records or manually assembled spreadsheets.

"Having access to the reporting via the orders made collecting money so much easier," she said.

Having a clearer picture of the farm's income also helps Kathryn understand how the business is performing and make more informed decisions as production expands.

Finding Support Along the Way

Transitioning from spreadsheets to farm management software can be intimidating, particularly for an operation growing numerous crops and managing detailed certification records.

Kathryn remembers feeling apprehensive about the onboarding process. Fortunately, she found that Farmbrite's customer support team was available to help her work through questions as they arose.

She specifically credits Farmbrite support specialist Chris with helping her learn the software. When Kathryn encountered an unfamiliar feature or needed assistance with a particular workflow, Chris often created a personalized instructional video demonstrating how to accomplish the task.

That individual attention made a lasting impression.

"I have never used a software that I have been so impressed with the customer service and the support side as I have with Farmbrite," Kathryn said.

She also appreciates Farmbrite's willingness to listen to farmers and incorporate their feedback into ongoing product improvements.

For a relatively new agricultural business still developing its operational processes, having access to responsive support has helped Kathryn become more comfortable using the software.

Growing a Farm Means Building a Community of Support

One of Kathryn's strongest recommendations for aspiring farmers has little to do with technology. It's about finding people who can help. As a first-generation farmer, Kathryn understands the importance of learning from others with practical agricultural experience.

While books and educational resources provide valuable information, she believes there are situations where nothing replaces a conversation with someone who has already encountered a similar challenge.

One resource that has been particularly valuable to Basnett Farms is ATTRA Sustainable Agriculture, a program developed and managed by the National Center for Appropriate Technology (NCAT).

ATTRA provides educational resources and technical assistance to farmers, including those working with organic and sustainable production methods.

Kathryn initially worked with a private agricultural consultant but subsequently discovered that ATTRA could provide much of the specialized assistance she needed at no cost.

Today, she regularly consults with ATTRA specialists on topics ranging from crop production to pest management. When she encounters an unfamiliar pest, for example, she can share photographs with agricultural specialists to help identify the problem and explore potential solutions.

"Having access to ATTRA has been really a game changer for us," Kathryn said.

For Kathryn, access to experienced agricultural professionals has been just as important as finding the right tools to manage her business.

Building a Farm Where Family Comes First

As the founder of Basnett Farms, a 100% woman-owned operation, Kathryn Richardson brings more than two decades of leadership experience from an industry where she was frequently the only woman in the room.

During her career in commercial real estate, she often found herself having to establish her credibility quickly. Even today, she encounters people who assume her husband manages the farm or makes its business decisions.

But Kathryn's approach to leadership isn't simply about challenging those assumptions. It's also about creating the kind of workplace she believes people deserve.

Although she doesn't specifically recruit women, more than half of the Basnett Farms team is female. Kathryn believes the farm's flexible, family-oriented work environment helps make that possible.

Whether an employee needs to leave early to pick up a child from school, care for a sick family member, or accompany an aging parent to a medical appointment, Kathryn believes those responsibilities deserve support.

She follows the same philosophy herself, making time to take her son to and from school whenever her schedule allows.

And that flexibility isn't limited to women. It's a principle she extends to everyone working at Basnett Farms.

"Family is first," Kathryn explained.

For Kathryn, supporting employees' personal responsibilities is also a practical part of building a successful agricultural business.

She understands that her team is helping bring her vision for Basnett Farms to life. By treating employees with dignity and compassion, she believes she's building relationships that encourage the same commitment in return.

"I've found when I treat my employees with dignity and compassion, they will work for my benefit when I really need them," she said.

It's a leadership philosophy shaped by her professional experience, her responsibilities as a parent, and her belief that a successful farm depends on the people who help make it possible.

Preparing Basnett Farms for Its Next Chapter

Although Basnett Farms began operations in 2024, Kathryn is already looking toward its next stage of growth.

The farm currently sells its produce through an online store, farmers markets, and local retail outlets. Looking ahead to 2027, Kathryn hopes to expand into larger grocery and wholesale markets.

Meeting the food safety and traceability requirements of those buyers is an important part of that strategy. Having recently passed its GAP certification audit, Basnett Farms has reached an important milestone in preparing for those opportunities.

With 132 acres available and only a portion currently in production, Basnett Farms has room to expand both its indoor and outdoor growing operations as additional customers come aboard. Kathryn is also continuing to explore Farmbrite's capabilities, including features the farm hasn't yet incorporated into its daily workflows.

As its operations become more complex, she sees opportunities to use additional tools to support the business. For now, her priority remains straightforward: building a successful farm while spending more time doing the work that inspired her career change in the first place.

Advice for Farmers Just Getting Started

When asked what advice she would offer someone considering a similar move into agriculture, Kathryn didn't hesitate.

"It's going to be double the work and three times more money than you originally budgeted."

It's a lesson she learned firsthand while establishing Basnett Farms.

She encourages new farmers to invest in reliable business systems early, find experienced mentors, and seek out organizations that can provide practical guidance. For Kathryn, those resources have helped bridge the gap between knowing how to grow vegetables and learning how to operate a commercial agricultural business.

Farmbrite has become one part of that support system.

Beyond organizing records and simplifying administrative tasks, Kathryn believes the software has helped Basnett Farms operate more professionally and make better-informed business decisions. Perhaps most importantly, it has helped her spend less time managing spreadsheets and more time growing the business she set out to create.

And for someone who left a long career in commercial real estate to pursue her passion for growing food, that's exactly where she wants to be.