Voices for Agriculture: Farm Aid

Willie Nelson, Neil Young and John Mellencamp turned their spotlight on the plight of farmers in 1985, during the depth of farming's financial crisis. They've kept it there ever since, growing Farm Aid beyond concerts and helplines, although those remain major functions of the organization.

Today, the organization continues to advocate for financial fairness for family farms as well as local and regional food systems that often provide those farmers with a better pathway to profitability. While there are many definitions of a family farm, the organization works to shorten the connection between the consumer and the producer of food, while increasing the prices paid to farmers in the process.

Nelson, the now-91-year-old singer and guitar player, has testified before Congress several times, including advocating for the Agricultural Credit Act of 1987, which saved thousands of family farms from foreclosure.

"We should encourage the financial industry to be very helpful to the family farmer," he told Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, arguing that bankers need to trust farmers to make the best decisions for their business and their soil.

"I also think farm-to-markets are a great idea. Where people, instead of buying their breakfasts from 1,500 miles away on a truck, they go next door and find a farmer who can produce it for them," he says.

Connecting concertgoers to locally produced food is one of the key ways the Farm Aid festival has grown. In 2007, it launched its HOMEGROWN Concessions initiative, where all of the food sold is sourced from farms around the concert venue. The objective is to create new business opportunities for farmers and establish ongoing relationships.

Carolyn Mugar, who has served as Farm Aid's executive director since the first concert, says there's more work to be done. Farm Aid has expanded its board, bringing on Dave Matthews in 2001 and Margo Price in 2021, balancing out the rising ages of the original board members.

She's not worried about the future.

"I don't fear what will happen, because I know they'll figure it out just like they did with the first concert," she says. "We're up to being relevant. We will have to keep figuring it out just like farmers have to keep figuring it out."

**

-- https://www.farmaid.org/…

-- You may email Katie at katie.dehlinger@dtn.com, or follow Katie on social platform X @KatieD_DTN

[PF_0824]

(c) Copyright 2024 DTN, LLC. All rights reserved.