Willie Nelson’s Farm Aid, the longest running concert for a cause, will mark the 40th anniversary of its advocacy for family farmers with an all-star festival on Sept. 20 at Huntington Bank Stadium in Minneapolis.
Nelson will be joined on the bill by fellow Farm Aid board members Neil Young (with his band the Chrome Hearts), John Mellencamp, Dave Matthews (with Tim Reynolds) and Margo Price, with the full-day lineup also set to include: Billy Strings, Nathaniel Rateliff & the Night Sweats, Trampled by Turtles, Waxahatchee, Eric Burton of Black Pumas, Jesse Welles and Madeline Edwards, with more artists to be announced.
Since Nelson introduced the first Farm Aid concert in Champaign, Ill., on Sept. 22, 1985, the nonprofit behind the festival has raised nearly $80 million to promote a strong and resilient family farm system of agriculture, while also building connections in the battles against climate change and social injustice.
“Family farmers are the heart of this country, and we depend on each other for good food and strong communities,” says Nelson, in announcing this year’s event. “For 40 years, Farm Aid and our partners have stood with farmers, supporting them to stay on their land even when corporate power, bad policies and broken promises make it harder to keep going.
“This year, we’re proud to bring Farm Aid to Minnesota to celebrate the farmers who sustain us and to fight for a food system that works for all of us. Family farmers aren’t backing down, and neither are we.”
Not since the farm foreclosure crisis of the 1980s, which prompted Nelson to launch Farm Aid, have family farmers faced the challenges that confront them today, from the devastation of storms driven by climate change to government actions that play havoc with their finances.
Last month, on the Farm Aid website, Nelson and veteran agricultural activist David Senter wrote an open letter directed at America’s young farmers, addressing this moment.
“The commitment you’re making to your families, your communities and our water, soil and climate is not an easy one—and it never has been,” they wrote. “We want you to know that, even with the wave of uncertainty farmers are facing right now, the work you’re doing has never been more critical for our country.
“All farmers — no matter their age, background, politics, location, size, type or production methods — must call on each other in these challenging times,” they wrote. “We invite you to call on us, and hope that you will answer when we call on you. We’re in this together and it’s only together that we will get through.”
The music at Farm Aid gives power to its message and mission.
Throughout its history, including during the first term of President Trump, the festival has been perhaps the one place in America today to unite blue and red, urban and rural, for a common cause: supporting the men and women who grow the nation’s food.
Farm Aid notes the significance of the festival making its first appearance in Minnesota, a state which, since the 1980s, “has offered a groundswell of strength in the farm movement, championing rural advocacy, sustainable and equitable agriculture and forward-thinking policy reform,” the organization says in a statement.
This year’s Farm Aid will once again include its trademarked HOMEGROWN Concessions, with a menu featuring “ingredients that are grown or raised by farmers who use ecological practices and are paid a fair price,” the organization states. The HOMEGROWN Village will feature exhibits about soil, water, energy, food and farming.
Farm Aid co-executive director Jennifer Fahy says this year’s festivities are not only about looking back, but also about building for the future.
“We’re grateful to our dedicated board members and hundreds of generous artists who have brought us together year after year to celebrate family farmers and highlight the challenges they face every day,” says Fahy.
“Our anniversary marks a critical time for the nation to come together in support of the family farmers we all depend on. Our work isn’t done. There are significant threats to the future of family farm agriculture and our food system. Farm Aid 40 is an opportunity to call those out and work for the food system that farmers, eaters and our planet all deserve.”
Farm Aid co-executive director Shorlette Ammons adds: “There is no farm movement without the people. Rural communities represent the heartbeat of this country. Farmers and rural and immigrant labor sustain our food system, care for the land, and strengthen our foodways and cultural connections. When we invest in rural communities, we uplift the well-being of our entire country, celebrating the vibrant and needful contributions of all.”
