Farm Aid started 40 years ago to support local farmers during crisis
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John Mellencamp released an anthem about losing the family farm at the height of the 1980s farm crisis.
“This land fed a nation, this land made me proud, son I’m just sorry there’s no legacy for you now,” John Mellencamp sang on “Rain on the Scarecrow.”
Mellencamp still serves on the board of Farm Aid, which held its first concert two months after he released the album “Scarecrow.”
“I don’t think any of us could have seen that this would go on for 40 years,” Mellencamp said, and that the mission remains the same because, as he sees it, the farm crisis of the 1980s never went away.
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“There was never really a time when the small family farm was looked over by the government,” Mellencamp said. “The government looks after the corporate farm.”
The board is made up of its founding members: Mellencamp, Willie Nelson, Dave Matthews and Neil Young. Recently, Margo Price joined the board. She said Farm Aid’s mission is personal.
“My family lost the farm back in 1985, which was the year that the first-ever Farm Aid had happened,” Price said. “It feels very full circle.”
While musicians behind the festival are passionate about the cause, Farm Aid is non-partisan.
“Led by Willie Nelson, we have the incredible fortune to appeal to a lot of different kinds of people, regardless of politics,” said Farm Aid co-director Jennifer Fahy “[The musicians] receive no payment from Farm Aid, no reimbursement for their expenses. It truly is unprecedented in the music industry.”
Proceeds go to nonprofit organizations and programs that directly support family farmers.
Farm Aid also features concession stands with food that organizers say was grown or raised by family farmers who use ecological practices.
Organizers see Minnesota as a leader in the food co-op movement.
The latest Census of Agriculture data from the USDA shows the number of Minnesota farms is still shrinking, and those surviving farms are getting bigger.
Republican and Democratic Agriculture committee heads at the Minnesota Capitol back that up.
“Margins are so tight, and the farmer’s share of that food consumer’s dollar has shrunk down to literally just pennies on the dollar,” said Rep. Paul Anderson, R-Glenwood. “So you have to produce more to make a profit.”
Lawmakers agree that farm issues seem to get bipartisan support in the legislature, but Minnesotans could learn more from connecting with farmers.
“[Many people] either sort of valorize farmers as being this kind of magical creature who's kind of a metaphor for America, or you villainize them as people who are destroying the environment,” said Sen. Aric Putnam, DFL-St. Cloud. “No one actually engages with the reality of agriculture as much as they should.”
