Rate My Professor Jessica Torion

Jessica A. Torrion is an Associate Professor of Crop Physiology at Montana State University, where she serves as Department Head of the Department of Research Centers and Superintendent of the Northwestern Agricultural Research Center. She joined the university in 2014 as a field crop physiologist, focusing on abiotic stresses in plants to increase crop productivity and resiliency. Her research targets cereals, oil crops, pulses, and forages, with her appointment comprising 65% administration, at least 25% research, and 5% teaching. Prior to Montana State University, Dr. Torrion was a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, performing field research and outreach on soybean whole crop physiology.

Dr. Torrion earned her Ph.D. in Agronomy from Texas Tech University in 2008, specializing in cotton crop water stress analysis. Her research output includes numerous peer-reviewed publications in journals such as Agronomy Journal, Crop Science, and Agricultural Systems. Key publications are Nafi, E., and J.A. Torrion. 2024. Response of seeding rate and cultivar maturity with planting date in canola. Agron. J.; Franck, W., et al. 2023. Cultivar and environmental impacts on protein and mineral concentrations in peas (Pisum sativum L.). Crop Sci. J.; Tenorio, F.A.M., et al. 2021. Disentangling management factors influencing nitrogen balance in producer fields in the western Corn Belt. Agric. Syst. J.; Torrion, J.A., and R.N. Stougaard. 2017. Impacts and limits of irrigation water management on wheat yield and quality. Crop Sci. J. 57:1-13; and Grassini, P., et al. 2015. Soybean yield gaps and water productivity in the western U.S. Corn Belt. Field Crops Res. 179:150-163. Her scholarship has accumulated 735 citations and over 10,700 reads on ResearchGate, underscoring her contributions to crop physiology, abiotic stress, agronomy, and irrigation management. She is affiliated with the editorial board of Agronomy Journal.