Environment featured

Prairie Prophecy: A powerful new film on Wes Jackson and the future of agriculture

By Robert Jensen, originally published by Dead Dogma

April 6, 2026

Wes Jackson drives a blue tractor.

Prairie Prophecy, a film about the work of ecologist Wes Jackson, is now available on PBS and is the best environmental documentary ever made.

OK, I may not be a neutral critic. I was the host of a podcast with Wes a few years ago, and I wrote one book about Wes and another with him. I consider him a close friend, and I think he regards me in the same way. And I am an associate producer of the documentary.

With biases acknowledged, I encourage people to watch this beautiful film. The folks at public television agree:

“Prairie Prophecy follows visionary scientist and farmer Wes Jackson, co-founder of The Land Institute, whose lifelong work in perennial agriculture offers a hopeful path toward restoring balance with the Earth. This inspiring film celebrates a vision for a sustainable future.”

“Visually grounded in the American prairie and marked by moments of wit and reflection, the program is both informative and approachable—offering viewers a thoughtful, watchable look at the future of food and land stewardship.”

Director Michael Johnson and his team captured so much of what makes Wes’ way of seeing the world so distinctive. I first read Wes’ work nearly four decades ago, and it changed the way I understood ecology and the human future. I have long said that Wes is the most important environmentalist most people have never heard of, and Prairie Prophecy is a great place to start spreading the word.

The 90-minute version of the film is currently being screened around the country. Check online for a showing of the feature-length version in your area.

You can watch the 55-minute version of Prairie Prophecy on public television. Check local listings to see when it is on in your area. If it’s not airing locally, please call your station to request the program, so more people can see it. You can also watch online.

For an overview of Wes’ work, read this short profile.

Here are the books that Wes and I have produced:

Robert Jensen

Robert Jensen

Robert Jensen, an Emeritus Professor in the School of Journalism and Media at the University of Texas at Austin, is the author of It’s Debatable: Talking Authentically about Tricky Topics from Olive Branch Press. His previous book, co-written with Wes Jackson, was An Inconvenient Apocalypse: Environmental Collapse, Climate Crisis, and the Fate of Humanity. To subscribe to his mailing list, go to http://www.thirdcoastactivist.org/jensenupdates-info.html.

Tags: film review

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