The Team

James Henderson

Partner

Native West Texan James Henderson — who enjoys fly-fishing, camping and working cattle on the family ranch in California’s Sierra Nevadas — grew up on a small, diversified farm/ranch and graduated from Texas Tech University. 

As a high school student, he was a Texas State FFA Officer; in college, he was a member of Texas Tech’s National Championship Meats Judging Team. He worked for five years for Cattle Fax (a prominent meat industry organization) and in sales for a worldwide food and agriculture corporation, Cargill, Inc. in Minnesota.

In 2010, James started Prime Dirt, Inc. in the San Joaquin Valley, focusing on agronomy and livestock solutions at the biological level. The diversity in cropping systems in California provided James with a unique skill set. In 2018, he partnered with Greg Schilling of Back to Nature and Carter Smith to form Asido, LLC to expand into other markets across the United States.

A Certified Crop Advisor, James and his wife, Nicky, reside in Woodlake, California, where they farm walnuts, olives, citrus and run beef cattle. Son Reagan attends Texas Tech; daughter Jessica attends Montana State University. James is very involved in his community: president of Tulare Beef Boosters, deacon at Cornerstone Church, chair of Boy Scout Troop 309, board member of Tulare County Cattlemen, a member of the local Farm Bureau, coach of the area high school meats judging team and more.

John Niemann

Partner

John Niemann is an experienced business leader, board and business advisor, entrepreneur and regenerative farmer. Throughout his career as a global business executive, he was best known for delivering enviable growth and value creation across multiple segments of food, agriculture and supply chain. His “hands on, boots on the ground” experience, coupled with his strategic corporate leadership, distinguish him as a sought-after advisor. Whether leading in the board room or at the helm of business ventures, John shifts mindsets, inspires transformation and drives exceptional performance.

John presently serves as a subject matter expert consultant to The Context Network, an ag consulting firm, and is active in helping companies solve grand challenges they are facing, leveraging his past learnings and experiences.

John also manages 1,500 acres of farmland in southcentral Kansas where he emphasizes sustainability and regenerative agriculture practices. He also owns and operates Prime Dirt Midwest LLC, which partners with farmers, processors, co-ops and distributive businesses to improve soil health, yields, animal health and waste stream management.

John spent 28 years in corporate agribusiness companies Elanco and Cargill, including several executive roles. While serving as president of Protein Ingredients & International at Cargill, one of the world’s leading global food and agriculture companies, John was instrumental in unifying a newly integrated business into a customer-centric model that achieved five plus years of record growth. He also championed Cargill’s entry into the renewable diesel space through a joint venture that converts low carbon intensity by-products to green fuel. John’s past experience also includes having served as CEO of a fully integrated pasture-raised, regenerative-certified, poultry company that owned its own slow growth genetics, which were Better Chicken Commitment approved.

Committed to supporting the industry, John currently chairs the Dean’s Advisory Board for the College of Agriculture and serves on the finance committee of the Alumni Board of Directors at Kansas State University. He was recently elected to the National Alpha Gamma Rho fraternity Board of Directors. Previously, he chaired the National FFA Foundation Sponsor’s Board, and served on the executive board of the National Turkey Federation.

Greg Schilling

Partner

Greg Schilling has worked with biologicals for almost two decades and is currently vice president of Back to Nature, Inc. and South Plains Compost, Inc., family businesses for more than 45 years. In addition to composting, he farms convention and organic cotton and peanuts and runs a cow/calf operation.

Asido founder, the late Jim Pruitt, was the first customer of the Back to Nature line. Years later, when Jim bought CXI, the Schilling family was the first customer to use Waste Away as the inoculate in their compost. 

“For our row crop or agronomics side, we apply the N-Texx Edge product before the planting of each crop,” Greg says. “That product contains a lot of degrading bacteria, so it’s very good at breaking down fertilizer elements into an organic or usable form.”

Greg likes to tell the story of how he became a believer in Asido’s biological products by trying them out himself.

“The first farm we tested was one my dad and his uncle owned together. We wanted to put it back into grass. but the water quality was so poor that the soil had sealed off into a hard crust at the top, preventing absorption. They tried all kinds of ways to plow it or grow different cover crops with no luck. Then we decided to test the microbial product. It took two years, but the change was amazing! Trying to walk on the soil now, I would sink down to about my mid-calf. I mean, it opened that ground up that much!”

Greg graduated from Texas Tech University with degrees in animal science and education. He was a member of the 1999 National Champion Texas Tech Meats Judging Team. Greg lives in Slaton, Texas, with his wife, Lacy, and their three children: Kelsea, Grant and Koleson. He has been a member of the Slaton ISD Board for 12 years and is a past member of the Peoples Bank Business Advisory Board.

Carter Smith

Partner

An avid bird and big-game hunter, fisherman, and general outdoors enthusiast, Carter Smith’s Texas roots run deep but he’s no stranger to the national scene. After decades spent conserving his home state’s natural treasures, he’s turned his attention to the world of biological solutions for American farmers at Asido.

Carter also serves as a partner and managing member of S2S Holdings, his family’s agricultural, oil and gas, and real estate investment company. He uses Asido’s products, naturally.

Carter formerly served for 15 years as the Executive Director of the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department (TPWD), an agency that manages state parks, inland and coastal fisheries, wildlife management, law enforcement, fishing/hunting/boating, and outdoor education/outreach. He was particularly active in private lands conservation, state park funding, acquisition of additional state park and wildlife management areas, Children in Nature initiatives, myriad fish and wildlife conservation issues, and coordinating the state’s conservation response and investments along the Gulf Coast following the Deepwater Horizon Incident. In addition, he worked closely with the Texas Parks and Wildlife Foundation to leverage significant private philanthropy with public resources to advance state fish, wildlife, and park related conservation priorities.

Prior to his role at TPWD, Smith was the Texas State Director for The Nature Conservancy, where he led the Texas team in protecting important habitats in areas like the Devils River, the Edwards Aquifer, the Laguna Madre and the Davis Mountains.

A native of Central Texas, with degrees from Texas Tech University and Yale University, Carter has served on numerous conservation-related boards and advisory councils, including as Chairman of the Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies and President of the Southeastern and Western Associations of Fish and Wildlife Agencies. He is a member of the Texas Order of St. Hubertus, the Boone & Crockett Club and a lifetime member of the Texas Bighorn Society, the Dallas Safari Club and the Houston Safari Club. He currently serves as a board member of the Texas Agricultural Land Trust Foundation and the Texas Parks and Wildlife Foundation. 

Carter was named an outstanding alumnus at Yale and Texas Tech, and has been honored by the Texas Wildlife Association, the Audubon Society, the Botanical Research Institute of Texas, the Harvey Weil Foundation, and the Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies for lifetime achievement in conserving fish, wildlife and natural resources for the public trust.

Smith sits on the boards of directors of Jefferson Bank and AgriCapture, and serves in an advisory capacity to Lee and Ramona Bass on various conservation, wildlife and land-related matters. He resides in Austin with his wife, Stacy, and their son, Ryland. They attend Woodlawn Baptist Church and are active in managing and enjoying their farm and ranch holdings in the Hill Country, north Texas and in central California.