Aaron Henderson

My name is Aaron Henderson. My wife, Joni, and I have been married for over 10 years and have one wild son, Hayes. Joni and I first met when we were around 8-years-old through the 4-H Livestock Program. Joni and I married in 2010 and now live in Poplar Springs, Mississippi where we run a cow/calf operation that consists of approximately 150 head of Brahman crossed cows.

Hayes is currently in the process of starting his own 4-H show lamb flock. Joni and I both share the same parental goals of raising Hayes on our family farm and instilling in him the values of hard work, integrity, the grace of God, and the love of country.

I grew up on my family’s farm in Raleigh, Mississippi. Raleigh is located in South Central Mississippi in Smith County. Smith County consists of poultry operations, cow pastures, and pine timber. As a young boy growing up, most of my time was spent outdoors working in the chicken houses and the caring for and showing livestock. If my brother and I were not working, you could almost always count on finding us at a fishing hole somewhere!

After graduating high school in 2002, I joined the Mississippi Army National Guard, where I served 16 years in the National Guard with a deployment to Iraq from 2004-2005.

I completed my bachelor’s degree in agriculture at Mississippi State University in 2009 and began employment with the Department of Defense in June 2009. However, my passion has always been agriculture. I enjoyed my time at the Department of Defense, but left in 2011 for a career with the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) in Clay County Mississippi as a Soil Conservationist.

From my first to my last day with NRCS, I identified resource concerns for farmers and worked on what programs would best meet the farmer’s needs and goals. I worked in four other NRCS Field Offices as a Soil Conservationist before being selected as the District Conservationist for Grenada, Mississippi in 2015.

Over my career with NRCS, we more than doubled and tripled the amount of conservation contracts funded. My goal was always to help as many farmers and landowners as I could.

I gained a wealth of knowledge about conservation and conservation programs while working for NRCS. Like Barrett Daugherty, Director of Technical Service Providers at Stewart Link, my experience and devotion to the farmer and landowner was a perfect fit for STEWARD LINK.

In 2017, I joined STEWARD LINK as the Conservation Stewardship Program Leader. As Director of the Conservation Stewardship Program, I assist all STEWARD LINK consultants with the development and implementation of Conservation Stewardship Plans (CSPs) for clients, designed to meet the goals of our clients and NRCS.

Leading consultants and clients to the best practices associated with conservation and NRCS processes, I draw on experiences gained through engagements within an assortment of conservation and NRCS experiences from my time with NRCS and from personal experience as a farmer and landowner. These diverse experiences allow me to assist STEWARD LINK consultants and clients with putting conservation on the ground.

At the end of the day, Steward Link is about the people that we help, the stewards of the land.

Aaron Henderson
Conservation Stewardship Program Leader