Tori Dean is a graduate from the University of Tennessee at Martin with her Bachelor’s Degree in Plant and Soil Science. While in college, she interned for Dupont Pioneer and WinField United where she was assisted with small- and large-scale conventional farming trials that focused on increased yields.
Tori began her career working for an ag tech company that was trying to incorporate biologicals/soil amendments to row crops operations. But the ag business model of increasing inputs in pursuit of chasing yields “Just didn’t feel right to me,” she says.
Then Tori attended a Soil Health Academy and her life changed. “The instructors there talked about nurturing the land,” she says. “This concept represented a new way of thinking about agriculture for me but as I listened, It simply made sense,” Tori says.
“They explained how we, as stewards of the land, should work with nature instead of trying to work against it. This was something that I wasn’t taught my four years of college. I was taught the basics of agriculture, but everything was compartmentalized. I took entomology classes, soil classes, and plant pathology classes but not once did they incorporate how all those areas of study work together and how soil health is the key to it all.
Tori’s Soil Health Academy experience revealed the profound realization that Healthy Soil = Healthy Plants = Healthy Animals = Healthy People.
“I believe I am being called to care for and educate growers all over the world on how they can join the regenerative path by implementing soil health practices,” Tori says. “I want to help them produce nutrient-dense food, while being the best stewards to the land that God has blessed them with.”
Tori now coordinates all social media platforms, newsletters, and manages the website for Understanding Ag. She remains passionate about regenerative agriculture and is dedicated to learning even more so she can help farmers and ranchers succeed in their transition from conventional agriculture to soil health-focused regenerative agriculture.
