Amanda Henderson

Amanda joined AFT in 2023 and supports AFT’s projects in Texas, with a focus on conservation practices that promote soil health. She has over a decade of hands-on experience in diversified farming systems in the Northeast, where she worked with farmers and ranchers to enhance productivity, animal welfare, and environmental stewardship. Her work spans a wide range of operations, including grass-fed dairy, rotationally grazed beef, and pasture-raised poultry and hogs. She offers a practical understanding of regenerative practices across varied landscapes, along with insight into the many challenges faced by small-scale farms that direct-market their products. In addition to fieldwork, she has worked to streamline farm recordkeeping and communication through tools such as custom databases, mapping software, and online systems. Her technical skills in data management and GIS have helped farmers track livestock performance, plan grazing systems, and manage resources more efficiently. With a background in environmental engineering and cross-cultural experience from her time in the Peace Corps, she brings both systems thinking and a collaborative mindset to her work in agricultural conservation.

In 2023, Amanda relocated to Northeast Texas and joined AFT as an Implementation Specialist, coordinating with the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) to support producers in implementing conservation practices on their farms and ranches. In her current role as Soil Health Specialist, she is especially excited to be involved with the Texas Grazing Network, as she firmly believes that livestock are among the most powerful tools we have for regenerating healthy soils on working lands. In her spare time, Amanda is restoring a small tallgrass prairie and building a farmstead on her great-grandmother’s homeplace.