In “Common Ground,” directors Josh and Rebecca Tickell dig into the untapped potential of soil in our current farming systems, and how regenerative agriculture, which prioritizes conservation and rehabilitation, could mitigate climate change. The documentary makes a compelling case: Soil can sequester all of the carbon dioxide humans emit every year, and farmers can make more money after adopting regenerative practices. The upshot? Farmers are not just integral to stabilizing the climate—they could soon be leading humanity to a future with net-zero carbon emissions. 

Since their last film, “Kiss the Ground,” premiered in 2020, the Tickells started a “100 Million Acres” pledge in hopes of recruiting farmers to adopt certified regenerative systems across 100 million acres of land by 2030. Five years later, they’re halfway there, and with a sequel. “Common Ground” is available worldwide today on Prime Video. The Tickells joined us to talk more about the hardships farmers are facing, why dirt isn’t political, and the dangers of desertification causing another Dust Bowl that blows sand across not just the Great Plains but the whole world. 

This interview has been edited for clarity and length.



The Climate Pledge: Are we facing another Dust Bowl? 

Josh Tickell: Unfortunately, yes. We're seeing the sort of Saharification of the equatorial belt that stretches around not just Sub-Saharan Africa, but across India, China, parts of Eurasia, and the Americas. That belt has not just collapsed ecologically, but is desertifying rapidly. So, the bad news is it's bad and it's getting precipitously worse in terms of our management of the ecosystem and the global dust bowl. The good news is it’s repairable within a relatively short period of time. 

The Climate Pledge: In the documentary, Gabe Brown, a regenerative farmer, says we can “absolutely” mitigate climate change with regenerative agriculture and better farming and ranching practices. How hopeful are you that these promises of positive change can become reality? 

Rebecca Tickell: Gabe Brown was formerly a conventional farmer and rancher and he really learned the hard way how to regenerate land and make a profit doing it. He's a conservative Midwestern farmer, and he shows you it's not just the triple bottom line—this is like win, win, win, win, win, win. Farmers are currently facing a suicide epidemic in the United States because of subsidies, loans, harsh conditions, and an unstable climate. But when they make the transition, suddenly they have all of these different types of biodiverse foods that they can sell, and they’re able to make an income and live more in the way that they want to live, which is connected to their land. Farmers really care about their land. Gabe Brown's story is an incredible one of hope and what it looks like to go from conventional farming that causes illness and disease and creates desertification to what it looks like for farmers to make a tremendous profit, to be able to heal their soil, and to be able to heal their local environment. 

The Climate Pledge: Eighty-eight percent of farmers interviewed in a study cited in the film said they were making more money after adopting regenerative practices. So what’s the disconnect: Why is regenerative agriculture not more popular?

Josh Tickell: This is economically beneficial for everybody from farm states all the way to the coasts. It's nutritionally beneficial. You’re going to create healthier soil, and healthier soil has more nutrition that is going into food. Very simple. If the nutrition isn't in the soil, it's not in your food. So, when we ask, “Well, why isn't this transition happening? It's so obvious, right, on so many levels—health, economy, everything?” The answer is very simple: Education. It's not that they're losing money. It's not that it's going to be a painful and difficult transition, although sometimes it does require a little money and sometimes it is hard. In the majority of cases, there's more money to be made. The information gap is what’s stopping the transition from happening at an even greater pace.

The Climate Pledge: What will it take to change hearts and minds, and more importantly, compel action on the problems raised in this film? 

Rebecca Tickell: I come from a legacy farming family from the Midwest. And when we started this journey, we would visit my dad, who farmed corn and soy in Ohio and grew up standing in vats of pesticides and herbicides. You can imagine how some of those conversations went but I feel like we got really great insight into understanding this burden that farmers are feeling because they do love the land. And there has been this indoctrination of agriculture that we have to do it this conventional way because that's how we make a profit and that's how we get yield. And so, it's very confronting to think, “Maybe these chemicals are harmful to me and my family and my land and my community.” That is a really hard thing to grapple with; this is the way that it's been done and it’s hard to remember it being done any other way. And just being open to that change, being open to that diversity—it's scary to make that transition. 

But I think when people get this information, they start to use common sense. Okay, maybe we don't agree about climate change. But we can agree about the weather outside right now that everybody is having to face. We couldn't talk to my conventional conservative farming dad about climate change, but we could talk to him at great length about the weather because that affects everything. And that leads right back into everything that we've been talking about: hydrating the soil, regeneration, nutrient density—all these things that farmers really care about. And so when farmers get that information, everything starts to change, and it's not about politics and it's not about beliefs. When we all find that common ground and truly talk about the things that are important to all of us, we find that we actually have a lot more in common than we realize. And one of those things is to create resiliency and stability for our families and our communities and for the planet. 

Watch “Common Ground,” streaming globally on Prime Video starting April 22. Learn more about The Climate Pledge, Amazon’s call to global businesses to reach net-zero carbon by 2040.

All images courtesy of “Common Ground” film.