“In American Hemp Farmer, [Fine] shows that regenerative living isn’t only necessary, it can be joyful, accessible, and surprisingly effective" —Forbes
As we dig out from floods here in the American Southwest, I’m glad to share that the current breakout PBS film American Hemp Farmer premieres in 147 worldwide countries today. Here in the U.S, it’s now on Prime Video, and you can see it here:
Hope you check it out this weekend and enjoy — sure would love those 5 star reviews. And please share this Dispatch far and wide:
Even if you’ve seen the public television version of the film (and thank you so much if so) the new worldwide cut has a few additions with some Easter Eggs. Plus the more people who watch at this link helps the film’s ranking. So thanks on top of thanks for watching as often as you like at the above link.
For those who haven’t yet seen it, American Hemp Farmer was a labor of love: as I researched my book of the same name, I realized I was part of more than the rebirth of the worldwide hemp industry (itself crucial for humanity’s climate stabilization effort), but of wide public interest in regenerative living, which is another core theme in the film, and in my life. I’ve found regenerative living to be fun and accessible, so the book carries that optimism, should some small adaptations be made in digital age society at scale.
Then a wildfire flushed a bear who killed all but one of our goats one spring morning, which is not something I would wish on anyone, and I had to act. So I worked for a half decade on what became the American Hemp Farmer film.
During final editing of the film, before it won any festival awards, and before it was offered distribution, my family and I became wildfire refugees. It only lasted for ten days and we were never out of kombucha. But relocating our goats Bjork and Taylor Swift was not fun for either species. Still, the Funky Butte Ranch didn’t burn. Some of our neighbors weren’t so lucky.
Now it was personal. With its climate mitigation message reinforced very personally, the film forged forward. It won two festival awards and found a home first on on public television. Thank you to our underwriters! At this point, which was this past spring, I was just thrilled that the regenerative messaging was getting out across North America. I didn’t realize this was only the start.
Which is to say, thanks to all who helped the film gain global distribution by watching it this year on 72 public television stations in every U.S. time zone. The film already has an 91 million audience reach with two more years to go in its public television run, so the regenerative messaging is getting out there, and now it’s going around the planet to theaters and streaming platforms.
What that means is that from Boston to Portland, Bolivia to Barcelona, Ghana to Estonia, audiences will absorb the regenerative messaging that spurred me to research this book and film for a half decade. Finally, against all odds, American Hemp Farmer is going worldwide after two festival awards and a breakout run on PBS. Not to mention one bear attack and one wildfire evacuation, both covered in this film that has a climate plan for us all.
The idea of the American Hemp Farmer film is to leave us hopeful. If you have read any of my books, like Farewell, My Subaru (a Boston Globe bestseller), Hemp Bound (which Willie Nelson kindly called, “The best book of the year...a blueprint for the America of the future,”) and Too High to Fail, you might correctly guess that American Hemp Farmer is an optimistic film.
In the end, what drove me to work for years to tell these stories is the reality that the well-being of your family and mine might depend on it. Recovery happens, is my takeaway from a couple decades of soil-building. But, and I hope you hear this: a key component of trying to live a bit of a regenerative life is it’s so much fun day to day.
I remain optimistic for humanity. Just this summer, I drove through the 130,000 acre wildfire zone near the Funky Butte Ranch that is covered in the film, and was amazed by the bushy first stage recovery. I pulled over and heard two canyon wrens calling to one another from high up in scarred but surviving ponderosa pines. Life on Earth, report the wrens, has a shot.
Please stay tuned for more updates and clips here in these Dispatches From The Funky Butte Ranch. (Free registration at DougFine.com if someone is forwarding you this note). At DougFine.com you can also find my books and ebooks, and book me to speak at your organization’s event. I also post on Instagram: @Organiccowboy
And thanks so much for watching American Hemp Farmer at this link and for spreading the word – please share this Dispatch with your friends and family. And please give 5-star reviews.
Meanwhile, I hope everyone’s getting outside to process Vitamin D alongside pollinators. Here on the Funky Butte Ranch, we might be digging out from floods, but it only takes about five minutes under even the autumnal sun to process perhaps ten years of Vitamin D.
I look at it as Ninja training. Any other spot on Earth feels temperate. No complaints: the surface-of-the-sun weather spurs river plunging, of which I’ve been doing a lot, even in November. Hope you enjoy the film.
-Doug Fine
Funky Butte Ranch, New Mexico
Watch AMERICAN HEMP FARMER here
Book Doug's Live Event here.
Subscribe to the Dispatches From the Funky Butte Ranch newsletter and follow Doug on social media: @organiccowboy
Reviews of AMERICAN HEMP FARMER
"American Hemp Farmer would have been in George Washington’s library. Doug’s book is a scholarly, practical and impeccably enjoyable work and a must-read for those who cultivate hemp or are interested in leaping in.” --J. Dean Norton, Director of Horticulture, George Washington’s Mount Vernon Estate.
"With American Hemp Farmer, Doug Fine shows he is not just our preeminent hemp author, he is one of the most important authors of our time.” –Eric Steenstra, Executive Director, Vote Hemp
"A fantastic piece of Americana that shows the way to a sustainable future.” -David Bronner, CEO, Dr. Bronner’s Soaps
"I hope every hemp farmer and policymaker reads this book carefully. It details a roadmap for success, for farmers and the planet." —Cary Giguere, State Hemp Program Coordinator, Vermont Agency of Agriculture
Further Praise for Doug’s Work
“Fine is a writer in he mold of Douglas Adams.” —Washington Post
"Fine is Bryson funny." --Santa Cruz Sentinel
"Doug has written the best book of the year and a blueprint for the future of America." --Willie Nelson
About Doug Fine
Doug Fine is a comedic investigative journalist, bestselling author, and a solar-powered goat herder. He has cultivated hemp for food, farm-to-table products and seed-building in four U.S. states, and teaches a college hemp class. Willie Nelson calls Doug’s work “a blueprint for the America of the future.” The Washington Post says, “Fine is a storyteller in the mold of Douglas Adams.” A website of Doug’s print, radio and television work, United Nations testimony, Conan and Tonight Show appearances and TED Talk is at dougfine.com and his social media handle is @organiccowboy,