Farm Aid: How Generosity Builds Family Farms

For generations, America's family farmers have fed this nation, sustained its rural communities and kept alive a way of life rooted in hard work and the land. In the early 1980s, that way of life came under threat. Plummeting land values and rising interest rates drove thousands of farms into bankruptcy—the worst crisis the industry had seen since the Great Depression. 

Born from that crisis was a remarkable act of American generosity. Musicians from across the country came together to stand with family farmers, organizing a concert in just six weeks that would grow into one of the longest-running charitable music festivals in American history.

How it Started

The trouble began in the 1970s, when land values soared and U.S. agricultural exports increased. Farmers jumped on what they saw as an opportunity to expand, taking on debt to buy more land and equipment. But starting in 1979, the Federal Reserve raised interest rates to combat inflation, rising to 21.5% in 1981 and making it nearly impossible for farmers to repay their loans. The rising interest rates depressed the value of the very farmland that borrowers had used as their capital by as much as 60% between 1981 and 1986. By the end of the decade, about 300,000 farmers had defaulted on their loans, and many lost their homes and farms.

Generosity Builds Family Farms

It was Bob Dylan who first called on fellow musicians to support American farmers. Willie Nelson took up the cause, recruiting Neil Young and John Mellencamp to help organize a concert.

Six weeks later, on September 22, 1985, Farm Aid drew 80,000 fans to Champaign, Illinois for 14 hours of music from Billy Joel, Bonnie Raitt, B.B. King, Loretta Lynn, Roy Orbison, Tom Petty, and Dylan himself. The show raised $7 million and launched an annual festival that has since raised more than $90 million to support programs that help family farmers thrive.

American musicians each have their own unique styles, but they all came together to support the American farmers who have sustained this nation for centuries. 

Today, Farm Aid endures as a philanthropic nonprofit that works year-round to celebrate and strengthen farmers, advocate for fair farm policies, connect farmers and eaters, and bring family farm food to everyone — and of course host an annual concert with Willie Nelson, Neil Young, and John Mellencamp returning to the stage each year for the family farmers who feed America.