"Groundswell" Documentary Completes Regenerative Agriculture Trilogy, Launches One Billion Acres Campaign

The documentary "Groundswell," directed by Josh and Rebecca Tickell of Big Picture Ranch, is now streaming globally on Amazon Prime Video after premiering on World Environment Day, June 5, 2026. Narrated by Demi Moore and Woody Harrelson, the film completes a trilogy that began with "Kiss the Ground" in 2020 and continued with "Common Ground" in 2023. While the earlier films introduced regenerative agriculture to mainstream audiences and explored its policy implications, "Groundswell" documents the movement's expansion across dramatically different landscapes and cultures on five continents.

The film structures its narrative around six core regenerative principles: minimizing soil disturbance, keeping soil covered, maintaining living roots year-round, maximizing crop diversity, integrating livestock, and respecting local context. These principles are illustrated through practical decisions by farmers, ranchers, scientists, and Indigenous leaders rather than presented as abstract concepts. A rancher in the American Midwest describes how cover crops eliminated erosion, while an Indigenous community in South America shares traditional practices that modern science now validates.

Visual storytelling connects individual farming decisions to planetary consequences. Aerial footage contrasts conventional monoculture fields with regenerative operations where diversity dominates, while underground cameras show root systems building soil structure and time-lapse sequences capture degraded land recovering season by season. Scientists featured in the film explain how regenerative practices rebuild soil organic matter, sequester atmospheric carbon, and improve water retention and nutrient cycling, noting that an estimated one-third of the world's topsoil is already degraded.

The trilogy's measurable impact on public awareness underscores the film's significance. When "Kiss the Ground" premiered in 2020, awareness of regenerative agriculture among Americans stood at approximately 4%. By 2026, that figure tripled to 13%, with one in four Americans now recognizing the term. Regenerative products are growing at 72% year-over-year on retail shelves, and consumer research indicates the primary barrier is not price—only 12% cite cost—but information gaps, with 45% saying they simply don't know enough yet.

Economic arguments for regenerative transition appear throughout the film. Farmers describe reduced input costs as healthy soils require less synthetic fertilizer and fewer pesticides, while diversified operations spread financial risk across multiple revenue streams. Premium prices for certified regenerative products create market incentives that reward environmental stewardship. Indigenous knowledge features prominently as traditional practices gain recognition within modern agricultural science, positioned not as historical curiosity but as essential guidance for agricultural transformation.

The film also examines challenges facing the regenerative transition. Farmers describe financial risks during conversion periods when yields may temporarily decline before soil health improves. Policy frameworks often favor industrial operations through subsidies designed for monoculture production, and market infrastructure for regenerative products remains underdeveloped compared to conventional supply chains.

"Groundswell" launches alongside the One Billion Acres campaign, an initiative aiming to achieve one billion certified regenerative acres globally by 2030. Building on the filmmakers' previous 100 Million Acres initiative, the campaign tracks progress toward transforming industrial agriculture at planetary scale. Approximately 345 million acres are currently either certified regenerative or in managed transition worldwide.

The documentary earned the Golden Globes Prize for Documentary at the 2026 Cannes Film Festival. Previous films in the trilogy collectively reached tens of millions of viewers, and Amazon's platform ensures availability across 240 countries and territories. The film closes not with an ending but with an invitation, providing viewers concrete pathways from inspiration to participation through purchasing decisions, policy advocacy, or transitioning their own land.