In 1985, when Willie joined forces with Neil Young and John Mellencamp to do something about the Farm Crisis, none of them expected that the same challenges family farmers faced back then would remain a year later, let alone forty. As they have put it, they figured the folks in Washington would see what was happening to family farmers across the country and start to work together to fix a broken agricultural system.
Instead, it was Farm Aid and the people-powered movement we’re a part of that stood up for family farmers, and has continued to stand strong for four decades now. Willie, Neil and John have now been joined by Dave Matthews, Margo Price and Nathaniel Rateliff on Farm Aid’s Board of Directors. And more than 500 musical artists over the years have donated their performance at our annual festival to celebrate family farmers and raise awareness of the challenges they face growing the food and fiber we all depend on.
