About Us

History of Genesis Biochar

I have been involved in videography for most of my adult life and have had the honor of working on projects mostly here in Montana but also around the United States as well as Mexico, Panama, Costa Rica, Grand Cayman Islands, Belize, China, Egypt and Israel. I am the author of the youtube project: HowToFarmAndGarden.com

How does that relate to biochar? Great question. Glad that you asked. For several years now I have been working on a YouTube project called HowToFarmAndGarden.com. One of the workshops I recorded was on biochar. I had never heard of biochar and was inspired by what I learned. A short time later I took a tour at a co- generation power plant. The facility uses the waste softwood biomass from several industries like post and pole plants, logging, and sawmills to create steam which produces enough electricity to power their own sawmill, dry kiln their lumber, heat their buildings and power 2500 homes. I was impressed enough to request permission to do a documentary on it. It was during that tour that I discovered that the only byproduct from the process was what looked like biochar. I received permission to investigate it and through lab test I found out that they in fact were producing a high quality biochar. I spent the next year doing test on my own farm and garden with spectacular results. The next step was to get it USDA Certified Organic. This process was very interesting and I found the requirements to be very thorough. We had to verify all of the input sources, manufacturing process, handling and additional contaminant and heavy metal testing. It is an honor to be one of the few biochar producers able to label our product as USDA Certified Organic.

Looking Forward

It is our hope that you will take advantage of the information and resources on this website so you can become more aware and educated about biochar. There’s a lot of research being done around the world and we are excited to be providing biochar for a few of these studies. The WA Franke College of Forestry & conservation at the University of Montana is working on a project with the hope of identifying ways that Genesis Biochar can be used to mitigate the environmental impacts of fire retardant used to fight wild fires. We are also working with a research engineer that is developing reusable biochar filters that can be used to extract nutrients from waste water which can then the inoculated biochar can then be used as a soil amendment. The possibilities of these projects and the future of the biochar industry are exciting.

What We Do

We provide a quality Montana Made biochar product that will help individuals make an impact for a better healthier world. Whether it’s a garden, large acreage farm, or a potted plant, our goal is to offer quality organic boichar that will be used to promote soil health which as a consequence will produce healthier nutrient dense foods while sequestering carbon.

The People Behind the Idea

Joe and Brenda Clark

My wife Brenda and I are best known for our 32 year role in the log furniture industry. We started Frontier Furniture in 1973 when no one else was commercially producing hand peeled log furniture. When we sold the company in 2002, Frontier Furniture was servicing close to a 100 dealers and had a thriving presence on the web. We also built and managed five drive-thru espresso companies as well as a video production company.

After we sold our companies, we invested heavily in commercial real-estate. We were just finishing up the infrastructure on a large land development in Costa Rica when the 2008 financial crash came. I remember the experience as being like sitting in the drivers seat of a sports car and for no reason the car just would no longer respond and was impossible to repair. So we found ourselves needing to reinvent ourselves.

This was not the first time we have had to start over. Our furniture manufacturing facility was located in the Montana back woods which made it impossible to get insurance so when the facility burned we had to start over. It took years of hard work and tenacity but we got it up and running again. At least until a few years later when we were woke up in the middle of the night from the sound of another fire. We had just built and moved into a new house. but as a result of the loss we could no longer sustain the payments so we had to move ourselves and our three children out of the house and into a small well used mobile home. Wisdom prevailed so before rebuilding again we relocated the business to an insurable location. We are people with a strong faith in God and have always found blessings in our adversities. We are always willing to share about the good things that came out of our adversities and are looking forward to where this latest adventure is going to take us and who we will get to know along the way. One of my favorite verses from the bible is, Romans 8:28 “And we know all things work together for good for those who love God, who are called according to his purpose” and so our plan will always be to put our faith in God, pray, and appreciate the blessings we have”. Since the 2008 crash we started a new company called Eclipse Rover and have been able to send our products all over the world. Our latest enterprise Genesis Biochar has been an exciting adventure. It has been very interesting and fulfilling learning about biochar and developing the company. Biochar is one of this century’s most exciting new fields of research, with findings and practical implementations increasing exponentially every year so having the privilege of being part of something that can impact our world is a thrill.

Joe Clark - Proud citizen of the Citizen Potawatomi nation

The Citizen Potawatomi Nation is the federally-recognized government of the Potawatomi people and exercises governmental jurisdiction in an area bounded by the North Canadian River, the South Canadian River, the Pottawatomie-Seminole County boundary (on the east), and the Indian Meridian (on the west). The Citizen Potawatomi Nation constitution was created in 1938, amended in 1985 and again in 2007, forming a structure which incorporates executive, legislative, and judicial functions. Government leadership consists of a three-person Executive Committee and a 16-person legislature representing more than 33,000 tribal citizens.

Find out more