Nick Thomas

My name is Nick Thomas. My wife, Dr. Katie Thomas and I have two beautiful children, Claire and Jack. Katie and I first met in 1995 at Winona High School in Winona, Mississippi and we’ve been together ever since!

I grew up just outside of Winona on my family’s farm, so I’ve been involved with agriculture my entire life. In addition to farming, my dad and uncle were both game wardens for the Mississippi Department of Wildlife Fisheries and Parks. I started hunting and fishing with my family when I was a child and developed a love for the outdoors at a young age. Still today, most of my free time is spent hunting and fishing with family.

In 2001, I graduated from Mississippi State University with a degree in agriculture engineering and business. After graduation, I moved back home and farmed with my family while l looked for other job opportunities. During that time, I met Mr. Eddie Carnathan who was an Area Conservationist with the United States Department of Agriculture’s (USDA’s) Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) in Tupelo, Mississippi. A job with the USDA was hard to come by and I’ll always be indebted to Eddie for giving me the opportunity to work for NRCS.

I began my career with NRCS in September of 2002 as a Soil Conservationist in Booneville, Mississippi. Over the next three years, I worked in seven different field offices throughout Mississippi. In January of 2006, I was selected as the District Conservationist (DC) in Holmes County, Mississippi.

As a young DC, my goal was simple, I wanted to make Holmes County the leading county in Mississippi for the number of conservation contracts funded each year. If a landowner or farmer walked through the door of the office, our goal was to help that individual find a way to put conservation on the ground through one of the many conservation programs offered by NRCS.

Over the next eight years, our field office was able to accomplish our goals on a regular basis. The amount of USDA funds spent through conservation programs in Holmes County quickly doubled and tripled. Our field office staff in Holmes County kept the focus on customer service and trying to help as many people as we could. The eight years I spent working for NRCS in Holmes County was a great experience for me. I loved my job with NRCS and developed friendships with people that will last for a
lifetime.

Katie was finishing up her Pediatric Residency Program in the summer of 2014, and she had the opportunity to take a job in Grenada, Mississippi. At the time, our daughter was one-year-old, and we couldn’t pass up the opportunity to get back closer to our families. In December of 2014, I decided to leave NRCS, move back closer to home, and go into the crop insurance business with my childhood friend, Michael Woods, who had already established a successful crop Insurance business.

As Michael and I were out visiting with farmers about crop insurance, I would always tell them about all the conservation programs that were available through NRCS. It didn’t take long to realize, that with the experience I gained while working for NRCS, we could be a big help to farmers and NRCS by consulting on conservation programs. I quickly had more phone calls about conservation programs than I could answer, and we had never even advertised the business. The word began to spread from farmer to farmer about the services we were providing, and the phone is still ringing today.

Since 2015, Aaron Henderson, Barrett Daugherty, Jason Blaylock, Will Primos, support staff, and a trained group of CSP Consultants across the country have joined the team to support the demand for STEWARD LINK’s services nationwide. Our company continues to grow and we are proud of the “link” that STEWARD LINK has been able to provide between USDA and farmers.

STEWARD LINK was formed by a group of individuals who love the land, wildlife, and good stewardship! We strive to help fellow land stewards achieve their own goals for their land. With that in mind, we are committed to working hand in hand with NRCS to achieve the common goal of putting sound conservation practices on the ground.

Nick Thomas
President and Founder of STEWARD LINK