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Writer's pictureSara (Hessenflow) Harper

My Journey Back to Agroecology and the Heart of Farming: An Update from Dr. Jill Clapperton



cow by the fence at sunset

An update from Dr. Jill Clapperton


After 3 years, on July 19, 2024, I stepped away from Edacious PBC- a company I cofounded. When I started, the company was an idea, a concrete floor and a hole in the ground. Now there is a fully operational laboratory and a thriving business. It was time for me to return to the farm and ranch communities and the agroecosystems that feed my soul and make my heart sing.

Every journey begins with the first step. I returned to Rhizoterra Inc. and to working with Avril Stevenson and Sara Harper the women who so brilliantly and diligently grew the Company in my absence. Now, I look forward to consulting on soil health, forage, cover, and companion cropping, integrated livestock grazing, speaking, delivering fun systems-based soil health workshops (Rhizoterra.com), and demonstrating all the cool portable technology for measuring soil and plant health.


Jill Clapperton explains soil health
Dr. Jill Clapperton demonstrates rainfall simulator at Groundswell UK Conference

My passion is truly rooted in applied rhizosphere ecology (plants, soil, and soil organism interactions in and around the roots). I love using plants and plant communities to create, regenerate, and sustain healthy productive soils that grow an abundance of food in a way that rebuilds and expands functions within agroecosystems. I know that by using conservation tillage, cropping strategies, and well-managed grazing together we can restore soil health, mitigate soil erosion, and regenerate critical soil ecosystem functions such as the water cycle.


I plan on having lots of fun adventures on this journey, please join me in my online community by checking out the soil health educational services we provide, or by taking advantage of the free resources we are share on this site. We will be learning together every step of the way!


Our Mission

We work to demonstrate and promote the link between healthy soils and the production of nutrient-dense food.  Our strategies include whole system planning for crops, livestock, and/or integrated crop and livestock systems. We know that one-size fits no one so we coach our clients to implement strategies that best suit them, their families, community, and markets, to restore and enhance agro-ecosystem function and services.

©2019 by Rhizoterra.com.

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