Jill Clapperton is a farmer and applied rhizosphere ecologist. She grows crops with integrated livestock in Kansas in the U.S. and advises farmers the world over.  Talking with Jill was eye opening and fun. We go big talking about gaia theory and the interconnectedness of all life on Earth. But we mostly dive deep into the fascinating ecological communities that plants create above and below the ground.

As Jill explains, plants are not passive. They are purposeful masters of their own fates, wielding chemical arsenals and mustering armies of microbes to secure their survival. And if we plant with purpose, we can harness the incredible power of plants to create farming systems that are productive, resilient and great for the soil and our health.

This episode was hosted by Eli Court, and produced by Soils for Life and the GrowLove project. Head to the Soils for Life website (www.soilsforlife.org.au) to find out more about our work.

If you like what you hear, don't forget to rate and review our podcast. Every review helps to make our podcast easier for others to find. If you have feedback or suggestions of people or topics we should cover, you can reach us at [email protected]. We love hearing from you. Thanks for listening!

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Find out more about Jill Clapperton at www.rhizoterra.com/

Check out the Grounded Festival in Cygnet Tasmania on 4-5 December 2024 - details and tickets via groundedaustralia.com.au/.

Other people mentioned in this podcast:

- Felice Jacka OAM (foodandmoodcentre.com.au/team/felice-jacka/).

- Dan Kittredge (www.bionutrientinstitute.org/meetdan).

- An article on ​​Lynn Margulis and James Lovelock, and their development of gaia theory (www.abc.net.au/news/science/2022-08-06/james-lovelock-legacy-gaia-climate-science-lynn-margulis/101297574).

- Anna Krzywoszynska, the Finnish researcher at the University of Oulu whose name Jill didn’t dare try to pronounce (www.oulu.fi/en/researchers/anna-krzywoszynska).

- Grant Sims, Soils for Life case study farmer (www.downundercovers.com/about), who was recently featured in our Multispecies Cover Cropping Practice Guide (soilsforlife.org.au/practice-guide-multispecies-cropping/).