2025

A Promise Across 40 Years: Back in 1985, as family farms across America’s heartland collapsed under overwhelming debt, three musicians chose to turn their art into a lifeline. Willie Nelson, John Mellencamp, and Neil Young took the stage in Illinois to launch Farm Aid—a movement rooted in one powerful goal: “to keep family farmers on their land.” For forty years, Willie has been more than a performer; he has been the President and the spirit of the cause, the outlaw voice ensuring the struggle never fades. What started as a single concert grew into a lasting force, providing farmers with financial relief, legal guidance, and a platform to be heard—a living proof of a promise made and honored at the moment it mattered most.

Watch the video at the end of this article. Introduction The Farm Aid Story: When...