About the film
Wes Jackson, a visionary scientist, farmer, and co-founder of The Land Institute, has spent his life pioneering a bold new approach to agriculture that challenges humanity to rethink its relationship with the Earth. Jackson has inspired a global movement toward sustainability and ecological harmony through his transformative work in perennial and natural systems agriculture.
This film takes viewers on an intimate journey through Jackson's life, from his humble beginnings in rural Kansas to his transformative vision of "natural systems agriculture." Featuring rare archival footage, insights from collaborators, and powerful moments from the prairie fields that inspired his life's work, the story weaves together personal passion, scientific innovation, humor, and the urgency of preserving Earth's fragile ecosphere.
Prairie Prophecy is a tribute to Wes Jackson's enduring legacy and a call to action for the next generation of farmers, scientists, and environmental stewards. As climate change accelerates, Jackson's ideas remain a beacon of hope, demonstrating that sustainable solutions are not only possible but essential for the survival of life on Earth.
The schedule
10:00 am - Prairie Prophecy film screening
11:30 am - Panel discussion
A feature-length documentary taking viewers into the restless and relentless mind of ecological visionary Wes Jackson, founder of the regenerative agriculture movement. A MacArthur “Genius” Grant and Right Livelihood Award recipient, Wes has been lauded by the Smithsonian, The Atlantic and The New York Times, among many others, and named “One of the 18 most important Americans of the 20th Century.”
Kevin McKinney is an award-winning filmmaker with a passion for uncovering the deeper nuances of under-appreciated stories.
Kevin’s camera and sound work have earned industry recognition. He is a Television Academy-recognized sound recordist for Apple TV’s Girls State and an Emmy-winning cinematographer for the PBS documentary A Century of Change, about the Negro Leagues.
He graduated from the University of Kansas with degrees in Sociology and Theatre/Film and is an Artist Inc Fellow.
Ruth Anne is chair of the board of directors at The Land Institute. She grew up on her family’s fifth generation farm in south-central Kansas. She graduated with a political science degree with honors and highest distinction from the University of Kansas and then received both her masters and doctorate in Politics at the University of Oxford on a Rhodes Scholarship.
In 2012, Ruth Anne received her law degree from Yale Law School. After clerking in federal district and appellate courts, Ruth Anne moved back to Kansas to work as an attorney on complex litigation and appeals. She currently represents consumers, landowners, farmers, and other plaintiffs to ensure their voices are represented in large class actions as a partner at Sharp Law in Prairie Village, Kansas.
Ruth Anne is also firmly committed to providing pro bono services in a wide range of areas from voting rights to representing individuals fighting wrongful criminal convictions to assisting those facing dental neglect in state prisons. She is also focused on building and highlighting sustainable agriculture in the Midwest, most notably through her service on the board of The Land Institute.
Brandon Schlautman is a farmer, plant breeder, and entrepreneur, and the co-founder/CEO of Sustain-A-Grain Inc. He leads the company’s work to aggregate, process, and commercialize Kernza® perennial grain across the Central Great Plains. Drawing on his own experience farming in Nebraska and Kansas, Brandon helps bridge the gap between growers and emerging markets, ensuring that perennial grains can succeed both agronomically and economically on working farms.
Under his leadership, Sustain-A-Grain has become a primary Kernza producer and a gateway for introducing Kernza to new food and beverage companies in Kansas and throughout the United States—supporting product development, ingredient sourcing, and early-stage commercialization for bakeries, breweries, distillers, and CPG innovators. The company now anchors a multi-state supply chain that provides identity-preserved grain, specialty milling, flaking, malting, and other value-added processing services for regenerative and perennial crops.
Beyond Sustain-A-Grain, Brandon plays a key role in national perennial grain development, connecting breeding, agronomy, supply-chain design, and market strategy to accelerate the adoption of Kernza and other perennial crops. His work centers on building resilient, farmer-anchored, and ecologically restorative food systems across the Midwest and beyond.
Jacob A. Miller-Klugesherz is a PhD candidate in sociology at Kansas State University, studying socio-political barriers to regenerative organic agricultural adoption and their effects on farmers' identity formation, and farm scale's relation to community wellbeing. His past research focused on material semiotics, ecospheric rhetoric, and public speaking. A sixth-generation Kansan, his non-academic interests include political advocacy, cooking, gardening, and all things basketball.
