Farm Aid: Around the Kitchen Table

Introducing a new generation of food and farm leaders!

2012-01-25T17:26:00.000-05:00

FoodCorps, an offshoot of the AmeriCorps program, was launched in 2011 with the goals of addressing childhood obesity in limited-resource communities while training the next generation of food and farm leaders.

The 50 inaugural service members have been hard at work over the past six months, providing hands-on nutrition education, establishing and tending school gardens and making farm to school connections in public school cafeterias across the country.

In just a short time, these young leaders have already reached 20,000 children in 10 states – a huge accomplishment as FoodCorps begins its second round of recruitment this month, with hopes of expanding the number of service members involved and the number of children and states reached through the program.

It’s my pleasure to introduce you to Erika VanDyke, one of the first class of FoodCorps members, working in her hometown, Grand Rapids, Michigan. Erika and I met as part of the FoodCorps mentorship program, and we’ll continue to have monthly phone calls for the remainder of her term, swapping stories about our work and gaining a new friend in the food system in the process. I was instantly impressed by Erika’s positive energy and by her commitment to food justice and her community.

I asked Erika to share a bit about her experience so far, and here’s what she had to say:

“FoodCorps has given me a chance to make tangible change in the community I grew up in. It's incredibly rewarding to watch kids get excited about healthy food. Hearing "Miss Erika, look! I ate my celery and carrots today!" makes this an experience I wish everyone could have. I can't wait until the ground thaws and we can start getting kids' hands dirty in their own school gardens. By giving students the opportunity to learn about where their food comes from by helping it grow, we make them part of the good food movement. Maybe school gardens will inspire the kids to become farmers someday, but at the very least, they will instill a new appreciation for the work of those who grow our food.”

We couldn’t agree more about the transformational power of getting your hands dirty, and are so thrilled to know so many children will find deeper value in the work of family farmers and a deeper connection to good food through the FoodCorps effort. We are proud to be connected to such a fantastic program and a stellar young leader like Erika!

To learn more about the FoodCorps program, check out their website or watch their video (produced by Ian Cheney, co-creator of King Corn) on YouTube here.

Farm Aid Music Monday, Starring Dave Matthews Band

2012-01-23T11:26:00.004-05:00

Before Dave Matthews joined the board of directors in 2001, he played at Farm Aid concerts three times with the Dave Matthews Band. Since then, he's played at the show every year (often accompanied by Tim Reynolds), but today for Music Monday we're going back to 1995 for his very first appearance. We're starting to post some videos from that 10th anniversary show, held in Louisville, Kentucky, so I thought the Dave Matthews Band would be a great place to start.

Here the band plays "Recently," after being introduced by John Mellencamp, who notes that all the musicians who play at Farm Aid do so at their own expense, so that Farm Aid's money can go towards its mission of helping family farmers stay on the land.

Find more Farm Aid videos on our YouTube channel.

Ethan's Farm and Food Roundup

2012-01-19T16:00:00.002-05:00

They say when in doubt; take a walk in a farmer’s shoes (or something like that). That is exactly what local chef David Sundeen Jr. and wife Susan Dumeyer did for a year at Windrose Farm. Working with farmers Bill and Barbara Spencer, they helped better equip the farm for producing delicious ingredients restaurants are in need of, boosting sales and improving both the farm and the local restaurants involved.

Bee populations in the U.S. have declined drastically in recent years, and new research from Purdue University may have found one of the culprits. Their explanation involves commercial insecticides used to coat corn and soybean seeds.

Pecan thieves should be cautious of their potential targets in New Mexico, as farmers are beginning to take serious precautions to prevent the theft of their precious crops. Whether it is security cameras or guards, they want robbers to know that stealing pecans will not be accepted.

Have nothing to do with that leftover milk? Have an extra half hour on your hands? Why not try making some homemade mozzarella, ricotta, or paneer cheese? Although it is somewhat of an art, DIY cheesemaking is getting popular. And savvy food entrepreneurs are selling very affordable kits across the market to help you with your project.

The USDA has announced that they will provide $308 Million to disaster-stricken states that suffered agricultural losses in 2011. The majority of the money will be focused around Missouri and Utah, but 33 states and Puerto Rico will also be given money for natural disaster relief. The funding will help cover agricultural losses beyond what is covered by crop insurance.

2012 means it's time for a new Farm Bill, the giant piece of legislation that gets pushed through Washington every five years or so and governs our federal agricultural policy. But Washington insiders are saying “don’t hold your breath," holding forth little hope that a divided Congress will get anything accomplished before the 2012 election.

Farm Aid Music Monday, Starring The Doobie Brothers

2012-01-16T11:35:00.003-05:00

For today's Music Monday, we're going back to 2001. The Farm Aid concert that year was held on September 29 in Noblesville, Indiana and among the acts that came together and donated their talents were The Doobie Brothers. Formed in 1970, they are still performing today. Check out three songs they performed in 2001 below (or on YouTube here), including "China Grove," "Black Water," and "Long Train."

You can get these songs and more on the Farm Aid 2001 DVD by clicking here. And you can find more Farm Aid videos on our YouTube channel.

Ethan's Farm and Food Roundup

2012-01-12T16:37:00.002-05:00

Here’s a look at the new Vermont Food Venture Center (in my home state!), which gives local farmers and entrepreneurs access to an industrial kitchen, refrigeration and baking units, and provides help with marketing and packaging of locally made products. The 15,000 square foot facility was designed to promote locally owned food and to give startup businesses the space and utilities they need to grow their companies.

A dairy farmer in Glenn County, California, got a big surprise when one of his cows gave birth to four identical heifer cows! Normally, in the case of baby twin cows, the mother has a slim chance of surviving. But this amazing mom and her four calves are doing well, making the healthy birth of quadruplets that much more impressive, and maybe even destined for the record books!

A new ad campaign from McDonald’s features several family farmers who supply the chain. McDonald’s wants to portray the journey of its food from “farm to fork,” like so many restaurants these days. But the ads have come under heavy criticism as deceptive and misrepresentative of the entire process by which McDonald’s sources and makes its food. What do you think?

A newly launched website allows rural farmers to connect with restaurants that will pay top dollar for their products. Aglocal, founded by Naithan Jones, is an online database that allows farmers and local restaurants to connect with one another. It also allows rural farmers to find customers in more urban areas, a problem that has bothered local farmers without a large enough market. A beta version will be released in March with resources for farmers in more than 30 cities.

Here's an article that tells the story of so many farms today: many farmers are growing older (the average age of a farmer is 57) and their children are not interested or cannot afford to take over the family farm.

A New York Times editorial says Haiti hasn’t always been the “poorest nation in the western hemisphere,” and the key to the resurrection of Haiti lies in its agricultural roots. “The return on the investment in the rural economy would be self-reliance, the alleviation of dangerous overcrowding in cities and, most important, a path toward ending Haiti’s now chronic problems of malnutrition and food insecurity.”

And finally, here's how Montana Senator (and organic farmer) Jon Tester eats at home, even when he's in Washington. Hint: He travels with pounds of Montana beef! What we want to know is: How does it get it through airport security?

Introducing our new co-op, Ethan Edson!

2012-01-10T14:55:00.002-05:00

I grew up in a touristy ski town in Vermont that is virtually run on three seasons: the summer getaway, fall foliage and ski season. We bring in people from all over, and without them, the local businesses that make up Manchester would be gasping for air.

For us, supporting local business has just always been the norm, and the farming towns that surround Manchester have always been very grateful for that. Thursday farmers markets brought the whole town to the local green, and samosas from the Samosa Man or Grandma’s Apple Pies were always on the shopping list. And it isn’t just food that keeps our tight knit community loyal. I sometimes have a hard time finding cell phone service in the middle of Boston, but seem to have a consistent five bars the deeper I hike into the Green Mountains. Perhaps it’s the obscure Vermont phone company that I have, but it happens that the owner of the company branch is a very good family friend, and supporting them over Verizon or AT&T seemed like a no-brainer to my dad. Although it can be frustrating, I guess in an emergency I would rather have service in the middle of nowhere than on the corner of Columbus and Mass Ave.

Sometimes we get lost in the modern day, and it is really refreshing to return to Vermont and see the simplicity of things. Farming there is truly an art, devoted completely to the betterment of those around, and meant to be a source from which everyone can benefit. Supporting local farms puts the profit back in the hands of the people who work so hard, and it is sad to see farms today shut down because of small margins and skyrocketing overhead costs. Perhaps I am biased because I have seen it happen to those around me, but for a lot of people here in the city, there is little connection to or understanding of the struggles our farmers face.

That was what got me so interested when I saw Farm Aid as an option for a co-op placement through my university. Along with the ability to bring awareness about local farms to both Boston and Vermont, I could also be part of a greater initiative that involved some of my favorite musicians of all time. For me, this was an incredible experience that I just couldn’t pass up. I have been a musician for all of my life, and some of my biggest influences have appeared dozens of times on the set list for these concerts. I feel very lucky to have the opportunity to work alongside names like Dave Matthews and Neil Young, and to be part of a growing awareness that is way more important than me.

As for my dad, I think he is even happier, having this vicarious connection through me to his favorite bands of all time. This year I found the DVD pack of the Farm Aid concerts under the Christmas tree, but they mysteriously disappeared just hours before I left for school… I don’t think it’s a coincidence that my dad had no idea where they went.

So here I am now, working alongside people who are truly passionate about supporting family farmers. I am confident that I am going to meet some really awesome people while working here, and am very excited to expand my knowledge of local agriculture and of course the musicians who founded this organization. Hopefully with some of my experience in supporting sustainability and local farming efforts, I can make a lasting impact on this organization and make its founders proud. And maybe, if I am really lucky, get a quick autograph for my dad so he will stop nagging me every day.

I really look forward to writing more for the blog; thanks to everyone for reading!

Farm Aid Music Monday: Happy Birthday to Dave Matthews

2012-01-09T11:19:00.004-05:00

Can you guess who will be featured in today's Music Monday post? Farm Aid board member Dave Matthews, of course! Dave joined our board of directors in 2001, but played at Farm Aid concerts with the Dave Matthews Band going back to our 10th anniversary show in 1995.

Please join us in wishing him a very happy birthday today! And celebrate by checking out his full performance, with Tim Reynolds, at Farm Aid 2011 in Kansas City below (or watch it on YouTube here).

Looking for more Farm Aid videos? Find them on Farm Aid's YouTube channel.

The Farm and Food News Roundup

2012-01-05T12:45:00.001-05:00

Yesterday, the FDA took a step to reduce antibiotic use in farm animals, by restricting the use of a class of antibiotics called cephalosporins, which are used to treat common infections like strep throat and bronchitis in humans. It is estimated that 80% of the antibiotics sold in the U.S. are administered to farm animals, in most cases to speed growth and keep non-sick animals healthy in factory farm conditions that breed disease. This is the first step--of hopefully many--that the FDA will take to end the overuse of antibiotics in animal agriculture, which has been implicated in the rise of antibiotic resistant bacteria that kill an estimated 100,000 Americans each year.

With crop prices up, farmers are putting more and more land into production, including land previously thought to be inadequate for farming and land in conservation. But land prices are so high, many farmers, especially new farmers, can’t afford it.

A Silicon Valley technology company decided not to have their annual holiday party in favor of a volunteer work day on a local farm! Employees constructed a new farm stand for selling produce, large swathes of land were primed for spring planting, irrigation was added to the farm’s orchard and they created an outdoor teaching facility where students can learn about the science of food and how to prepare healthy meals. They also improved the food storage and packing area, building and furnished an entirely new facility.

A NYT article tells a truth many of us probably don’t want to hear: Organic agriculture is outgrowing its ideals. As demand for organic food grows, organic farms are more and more often huge monocultures. As a result, the association of organic with small-scale and sustainability can no longer be assumed. That's why it's so important to know your farmer!

Luckily knowing your farmer is becoming easier and easier throughout the year as winter farmers markets grow in number!

We’re entering 2012 with an organic milk shortage. The main reason for the shortage is that the cost of organic grain and hay to feed cows has gone up sharply while the price that farmers receive for their milk has not. That means that farmers feed their cows less, resulting in lower milk production. At the same time, fewer farmers have been converting from conventional dairying to organic.

As suspected, the Japanese tsunami, and the resulting Fukushima nuclear meltdown, has caused long-term damage to family farmers. Farmers in the area, a center for agriculture for 2,500 years, are afraid to farm their own fields and eat the food they produce due to possible radiation contamination. And now new trade agreements being considered could further decimate farm markets in the country.

Women farmers keep Italy farming!

2012-01-04T11:32:00.006-05:00

An inspiring article in the New York Times today profiles women farmers in Italy who are keeping small-scale agriculture alive in the country. The romantic notion that Italy is filled with small farms , it seems, is just that—a romantic notion. The truth is, just like here in the States and elsewhere as multinational corporations work to dominate agriculture across the globe, small-scale, family farmers have a tough row to hoe.

Echoing what many farmers in the U.S. say, one of the Italian woman farmers profiled in the article said, “I couldn’t make a living only by selling strawberries and plums. Either you have a large farm, or you diversify, like we did.”

Italian women farmers are diversifying--not just their crops, but what it means to be a farmer in Italy, practicing what they call “multifunctional agriculture." Women farmers are finding opportunities in agricultural tourism, farmers’ markets, organic farming and direct sales. But they’re also expanding to offer daycare at their farms, providing a much needed service in rural areas and enabling other women to join the workforce.

These opportunities are giving rise to the good news that agricultural schools across Italy have seen an increase in enrollment, particularly among women. “The agriculture of the future is very much female, as it has always been,” said Andrea Segrè, dean of the faculty of agriculture at the University of Bologna. Preliminary 2010 census data, issued in July, showed that the number of Italian farms had decreased by 32.2 percent in the previous decade, but fewer women than men had decided to throw in the towel.

The 2010 census found that there are 1.3 million women farmers in Italy, slightly higher than the number of women farmers in the U.S. (1,008,943 as of the last agricultural census of 2007). Mara Longhin, president of Donne in Campo, or Women in the Field, part of the Italian Farmers’ Confederation, said women “are way ahead of the curve” in diversifying, noting that most small farms cannot sustain themselves through crops or livestock. The involvement of women in multifunctional agriculture has helped society in important ways “like food security, rural development and the safeguarding of the natural landscape,” she said.

Nonetheless, women farmers in Italy face major challenges. Like farmers in the U.S, they rely on credit to run their businesses. Credit, particularly recently, is hard to come by--both in Italy and here in the U.S. But women farmers in Italy face additional challenges to accessing credit in the form of discrimination and sexism. Last season, Ms. Lauretti went to the bank for a loan to expand her business and was told that her husband would have to guarantee the loan, despite the fact that she owns the farm land and the house!

But she perseveres, farming with her 91-year-old grandmother, her mother and her 16-year-old daughter, who is studying teaching so that she can open a daycare on the farm. Asked how they've succeeded thus far, with four generations of women on the farm, Ms. Lauretti's mother answers, “Sacrifices, many, many sacrifices.”

Are you a woman farmer? What challenges have you faced? Share your story with us!

A New Year's Resolution

2012-01-01T14:12:00.000-05:00

Back around Thanksgiving time, a terrific op-ed was published in the New York Times that I saved, knowing that living up to it would be my New Year’s Resolution.

Titled Thanksgiving Thrift: The Holiday as a Model for Sustainable Cooking, the author, Tamar Adler, declared, “Talk about sustainability on the farm is popular these days. This is sustainability in the kitchen.” Elaborating, she writes, “Most of the year, we cook only for the one meal directly ahead, and we dispose of what’s left neatly in the trash — we budget- and time-conscious Americans throw out 40 percent of our food, worth over $50 billion (not to mention all the wasted time).”

This is perhaps the thing I feel most guilty about. I am a terrible meal planner, and despite my good intentions, too much of my local, fresh-from-the-farm produce ends up as a fermenting mess in the crisper.

Yet, at Thanksgiving I succeeded in cooking the way I’d like to, the way my grandparents probably did. The 16 pound turkey that fed us on Thanksgiving became so many meals—leftover roast turkey, turkey sandwiches, turkey tacos, and finally, with the carcass boiled down for stock, a delicious turkey noodle soup. That bird lasted a week, and knowing that there was a good meal nearly ready to go in the fridge each lunch and dinner was a welcome break from daily stops at the grocery store for the next hastily planned meal.

So for my New Year’s Resolution, I am taking the advice (or actually, accepting the challenge) put forth in Ms. Adler’s op-ed: “How much easier and more affordable eating would be if we looked at January’s chicken, February’s bread and March’s broccoli with the intelligence we do November’s turkey.”

The author gives her readers a blueprint, one that I’m excited to follow:

On Sunday we’d roast a chicken whole, then have its meat, its bones, its drippings. The rest of the chicken would mean fast, homemade, spicy tacos later in the week, lunches already made, the start of a soup. We’d save the ends of bread and freeze it as it staled. We’d buy and roast a lot of broccoli at once. The end of the broccoli would be combined with toasted stale bread croutons and the thinly sliced, quickly pickled, judiciously reserved end of an onion. What was left from that lively broccoli salad might then be put into a baked frittata for the next meal, which we might accompany with chicken broth.

I’m looking forward to working to get my cooking in line with my philosophy about where my food comes from. I’m looking forward to giving full respect to both the farmer who grew or raised my food, and the animals from which it comes. A former co-worker of mine would “rescue” any coffee beans he inadvertently dropped when making the morning coffee. I’d laugh in mock disgust as he picked up coffee beans from the floor and dusted them off before dropping them in the grinder. But he’d wag a finger and say, “That bean came all the way from South America!”

It made me think about the voyage our food takes. Imported from another part of the world or grown in our own backyards, food is a miracle and should command our respect and our every effort to use it well and completely to sustain ourselves and our families.

Plus, doesn’t this just sound like fun?

To cook sustainably, we need meat and vegetables to come in their own skins and on their bones and covered in their leaves, because they’re more economical and will leave us more to turn into future meals. We need to cook a bit more at once, and then do little cooking, and more adjusting during the week, which is often all we have time for, anyway. We need to follow the food-loving cultures of the world, and make versions of their simple, resourceful, sustainable dishes. For the curious-palated among us, it means a chance to cook like the Italians, the Thais or the French. For the more conservative, it means cooking like our practical grandmothers.

I’m pretty excited about my resolution—I think it will be easier to keep than the usual “I’m going to eat better or less or whatever” resolution I usually don’t stick with! What about you? Do you have a food or farm-related resolution? Let us know!

The National Parks Go Local!

2011-12-30T09:50:00.000-05:00

This past spring, I took a big step. Several big steps, actually.

I embarked on my first solo hiking adventure, giant backpack strapped on and hiking boots in toe, at Yosemite National Park in California.

Not a bad place to go it alone in the great outdoors. The natural features of the park are epic, whether you’re straining your neck staring up at El Capitan, breaking a sweat on Half Dome or exploring the astounding wonder that is the Mariposa Grove of Giant Sequoias.

Personally, the visual wonders did not stop there—they continued along every inch of the trails I roamed, every step of the Giant Staircase that took me to Nevada Falls (which was in all its glory following a rainy winter in California), and even the occasional bear sighting.

But of course, this isn’t a travel review. Yosemite is amazing—a fantastic park with a treasured history that is profoundly American. But the food? Well…the food left much to be desired.

I mean it was a bit of a let down after completing a day on the trail, with a lunch of GORP and Clif bars, to come back down—ravenous, mind you—find my way to a cafeteria or food vendor and realize I could choose between pizza and fried chicken. Or, in the mornings, to start my day with a breakfast of oozing egg concoction and stale muffins. Yuck.

More than ever, all my body wanted was some food. Some good food. I wanted a big salad, or maybe a grass-fed beef burger with some quality cheese and not a cheese-like substance. I wanted a southwestern chicken wrap, not cheesy nachos. I made due, of course, but it stuck with me. This was California, after all. The state is not lacking for good food.

So when Yosemite sent me a post-trip survey to reflect on my experience, I left rave reviews. Except for the food. I implored the National Park Service to do what it can to buy from local family farmers and get some good food to the hikers who need nourishment on the trail!

Perhaps they heard me? Recently, the parks went public with their efforts to leverage their impressive purchasing power to bring local, healthy fresh food to visitors. While there’s still a long way to go, the announcement is a critical step in bringing a better park experience to Americans exploring our national treasures. And that’s sweet music to my ears!

I’m already itching for my next trip to a park. I’m thinking Glacier National Park this time. Who’s with me?

Chipotle Mexican Grill supports America's family farmers

2011-12-23T12:13:00.000-05:00

In 2011, Chipotle Mexican Grill delivered outstanding support to America's family farmers.

Willie Nelson's rendition of "Back to the Start" zipped around the web in September to reveal (and reverse) the horror of factory farms. And then the video moved into movie theaters.

In August, Chipotle Mexican Grill joined Farm Aid 2011 in Kansas City, with the local Kansas City stores participating in the concert event.

Chipotle's Boo-rito campaign on Halloween launched with another video, this time the dark and spooky "Abandoned" which explored what's left in an empty farmhouse. Nearly 250,000 people in farm-y costumes poured into the restaurants on Halloween! Farmer wannabes and farm animals mingled for $2 burritos, all to benefit Farm Aid and the Chipotle Cultivate Foundation. And almost 1,300 folks sent their photos into Chipotle to vie for the awards for best costume.

Farm Aid staff in their family farmer costumes for Boo-rito!

It's deeply gratifying to share the mission of Good Food from Family farms with Chipotle.

The funds raised for Farm Aid ($285,000!) go right to work keeping family farmers on the land growing good food for all.

Thanks to the lively, good spirited people at Chipotle, we had lots of fun working together.

Onward!

On-Farm Food Safety Project has launched!

2011-12-21T10:17:00.001-05:00

We are happy to announce the official launch of the On-Farm Food Safety Project. The new online tool, developed by Farm Aid partner FamilyFarmed.org, helps produce growers create food safety plans that are specific to their farms.

The free tool offers an effective way for farmers to assess food safety risks and suggests customized improvements for the farm. To come up with a plan, a user is guided through a series of questions based on eleven food safety risk areas, covering topics from worker health and hygiene to animals and pest control. The tool also offers templates for record keeping and other food safety resources.

“Wholesale buyers are increasingly requiring that farms adopt and quantify best practices in food safety,” says Jim Slama, President of FamilyFarmed.org. “We created this tool in order to give farmers access to a system that allows them to meet the needs of these buyers, while minimizing risk.”

FamilyFarmed.org enlisted a broad range of stakeholders and technical advisors in the development of the tool, to ensure it works for both small and large growers. Farm Aid is proud to have sponsored the tool.

To start exploring the site, go to www.onfarmfoodsafety.org. We’d love to hear feedback about your experience!

Answering the Call

2011-12-20T16:44:00.004-05:00

For 26 years, Farm Aid's Hotline has answered calls from farmers in need. Family farmers call 1-800-FARM-AID because they know we're here for them — whether they're trying to rebuild after a weather disaster or they're looking for resources to make their farms thrive for generations to come.

But we can't keep up our work without your support — please consider making a year-end gift to Farm Aid today. If you give now, your donation will be doubled, thanks to a generous supporter. Your gift will deliver a helping hand at just the right time for farmers in need.

This year was a busy one on Farm Aid's hotline:

As prolonged drought devastated farms and ranches in Oklahoma and Texas, Farm Aid coordinated farmer-to-farmer hay lifts. Working with farm advocates, church groups and social service organizations in both states, Farm Aid helped deliver donated hay to farms and ranches in need.
When spring flooding damaged farms throughout the Missouri River watershed region, Farm Aid provided disaster funding to affected farm families.
And, with small and mid-sized farms hit by the ongoing credit crunch, Farm Aid organized a National Meeting of Farm Advocates to coordinate financial, disaster and emergency response for farm families facing crisis. These are the folks who deliver one-on-one financial expertise to the farmers who need it.

I grew up in farm country and family farmers are some of the most resourceful and independent people I know. If they're asking for help, I know they really need it. With your support, Farm Aid is determined to see them succeed.

Farmers of all kinds contact the hotline for help. In recent months, I've spoken with:

A dairy farmer in Wisconsin whose husband died suddenly this year and whose teenage son is hoping to continue the family tradition of milking cows;
A contract poultry farmer in Georgia seeking to transition his farm to a grass-based operation;
A young farming couple in Iowa looking for sustainable alternatives to chemical-intensive production of corn and soybeans.

The support Farm Aid provides means that family farmers can stay on the land, caring for the environment and providing us all with good food. For 26 years, Farm Aid has been there for farmers who count on us. Can we count on your support to ensure that family farmers will thrive?

Farm Aid Music Monday, Starring Willie Nelson

2011-12-19T16:09:00.001-05:00

Today's Music Monday features a Farm Aid 2011 video from Willie Nelson. Earlier this month, we were saddened to learn of the sudden death of Willie's longtime bass player, Bee Spears. This performance of "Still is Still Moving to Me" is a good example of Bee's playing along with Willie's guitar work and also has some excellent harmonica by Mickey Raphael.

Looking for more Farm Aid videos? Find them on Farm Aid's YouTube channel.

What’s new at HOMEGROWN.org

2011-12-17T12:12:00.001-05:00

We’ve put the gardens to rest and are cozily giving our kitchens a workout with baking, braising and stewing.

You can find terrific recipes in the member blogs. Like Aliza’s Morning Glory Muffins, Simona’s Roasted Apple Sauce and a fiery flu-fighter from The From Scratch Club!

The HOMEGROWN Fair wrapped up with an inspiring assortment of submissions. Check out the winners!

Finally, the best kind of gift is one that has meaning, and that usually is something hand made, home made or family farmer-made. Check out the HOMEGROWN Gift Guide for ten meaningful gifts for the holidays.

Occupy the Food System

2011-12-16T16:34:00.002-05:00

Thanks to the Occupy Wall Street movement, there's a deeper understanding about the power that corporations wield over the great majority of us. It's not just in the financial sector, but in all facets of our lives. The disparity between the top 1 percent and everyone else has been laid bare — there's no more denying that those at the top get their share at the expense of the 99 percent. Lobbyists, loopholes, tax breaks... how can ordinary folks expect a fair shake?

No one knows this better than family farmers, whose struggle to make a living on the land has gotten far more difficult since corporations came to dominate our farm and food system. We saw signs of it when Farm Aid started in 1985, but corporate control of our food system has since exploded.

From seed to plate, our food system is now even more concentrated than our banking system. Most economic sectors have concentration ratios hovering around 40 percent, meaning that the top four firms in the industry control 40 percent of the market. Anything beyond this level is considered "highly concentrated," where experts believe competition is severely threatened and market abuses are likely to occur...

Continue reading the rest at The Huffington Post.

Lauren's Farm and Food Roundup

2011-12-15T13:00:00.003-05:00

Whether they’re selling raw milk at farmer’s markets or organic milk to cooperatives, Maine dairy farmers are thriving. The state has a tiered subsidy program for organic milk, giving these farmers an edge over conventional dairies and ensuring that they receive a fair price. However…

A Maine farmer is being sued by Agriculture Commissioner Walt Whitcomb for selling the excess milk from his family cow to a neighbor without a license to distribute milk and food products. At a rally held in support of the farmer, a speaker said, “By redefining farmers as milk distributors or food processors, the rules require facilities . . . that are entirely inappropriate to diversified, small, family-scale cottage operations. These rules threaten to quietly erase farmers and access to locally raised foods from our communities.”

Check out this infographic showing the concentration of factory farms in the U.S. How is YOUR state farming?

Michelle Obama has shifted the focus of her “Let’s Move” campaign away from healthier eating habits and will instead focus on more physical activity for the nation’s youth. Science has shown that with the balloon in calories in kids’ foods, healthier eating habits will have a more profound effect on childhood obesity than more physical activity. Looks like another one bites the dust in the face of the big food companies.

Hundreds of Bulgarian farmers, outraged by plans for subsidies next year, organized tractor caravans to the country’s capital on Tuesday demanding the resignation of the ministers of finance and agriculture. The protest hearkens back to the tractorcade of 1979, in which farmers drove their tractors to Washington, D.C. to demand fair prices for their crops. In true farmer spirit, while they were in D.C. a blizzard shut down the entire city. The farmers, using their tractors, helped to transport people and clear the roads.

In a study funded by the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association, USDA researchers found a tenfold reduction in Salmonella and E. coli in the intestines of cows that had been fed orange peels. What they don’t mention is that the unnatural diet of corn fed to cows in concentrated feeding operations is what leads to heightened levels of these bacteria in the first place. Does allowing cows to eat grass instead of feeding them corn and orange peels sound easier to anyone else?

Georgia farmers are making and selling olive oil for the first time in over a century!

Earlier this month, a group of computer programmers got together for a hackathon of the Farm Bill. What’s a hackathon, you ask? It’s essentially a gathering where participants lock themselves in a room and tackle projects of epic proportions with unrestrained creativity—in this case, deciphering the bureaucratic jargon of the Farm Bill. Check out the project that won first prize.

Norway is experiencing a butter shortage because of a combination of bad weather (that hurt the dairy industry) and high tariffs on the imported stuff to protect domestic production. The shortage may seem silly, but perhaps we have a thing or two to learn from the Norwegians about protecting our domestic industries.

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Editor's Note: Today is Lauren's last blog post for Farm Aid, as she is wrapping up her co-op at Farm Aid. Lauren, you have been a great addition to the Farm Aid team and we're going to miss you! Good luck with the rest of your college career! THANK YOU!

USDA releases watered down GIPSA rule

2011-12-13T10:34:00.001-05:00

After many long months of delay and debate, the U.S. Department of Agriculture has finalized a weakened version of the GIPSA livestock rule, initially proposed in June 2010. This is the first antitrust action coming out of the USDA after a yearlong series examining antitrust issues in agriculture, co-hosted by the Department of Justice in 2010.

The final livestock rule is an important step in establishing fairness for farmers and ranchers in the highly concentrated livestock sector, but ultimately fell prey to the very corporate powers it was intended to harness.

In the long drawn out GIPSA rule saga, the fate of thousands of farmers and ranchers, and the future of our livestock sector, was compromised in last minute Congressional riders and pork barrel politics that bowed to the nation’s biggest meat companies.

“I think it’s unfortunate that Congress chose to intervene in the process and prevent us from going further,” Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack said in an interview with The Associated Press.

The outcome is a watered down rule, one that retains some critical and long overdue provisions for poultry and hog producers, but that falls far short for cattle producers, ultimately requiring their core issues in the rule to be revised, and starting the long rulemaking process over again from scratch.

For a more detailed run-down of the ins and outs of the final rule, I recommend checking out the National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition’s blog post on the ruling.

To learn more about the threats of corporate concentration in the meat industry, check out our past Ask Farm Aid column on the topic and read a press release about Willie, John, Neil and Dave's call for fairness in livestock markets.

Farm Aid Music Monday, Starring Jason Mraz

2011-12-12T15:36:00.003-05:00

Today's Music Monday features new videos from Jason Mraz at Farm Aid 2011. He's played at the last three Farm Aid concerts in a row and we certainly hope to see him back for more. Watch his whole set here, including his introduction by Dave Matthews and his cover of "Won't You Be My Neighbor?" made famous on Mr. Roger's Neighborhood.

Looking for more Farm Aid videos? Find them on Farm Aid's YouTube channel.

Why We Give

2011-12-11T11:45:00.000-05:00

Holiday season is a time when Americans think about giving, and that includes gifts to their favorite non-profit organizations. It is a busy season here at Farm Aid! As farmers are settling in for the winter, we turn our attention to the issues and needs they have. We talk to them about what we can do to help them thrive in 2012.

The urge to give has always been an interesting phenomenon for me, particularly as I invite people to make gifts in support of our work here at Farm Aid.

Why do we give? What prompts us to open our checkbooks or log-on and give away our hard earned money? It can be a rational approach to offset taxes, but for many people it's deeper than that. We find that many of you have an emotional connection to our work. Perhaps you remember summers spent on your family’s farm, doing chores or just having fun. You can instantly recall the smell of the barn or the freshly harvested wheat.

There is an innate happiness and gratification in each aspect of giving, whether we are thinking about which cause to support, the actual act of donating, or the after-glow when you recall the memory of that moment. Giving is an act that connects all of us. It expands our world in an instant, from being a singular individual and puts us in a place of community.

We are making a statement when we give. We want to be part of a larger movement to do good. Don't we all want to feel that we have made a tangible difference with our lives? Sharing our resources, any resources we have, enables to connect to the community around us. It connects us to our values, our passions, and our personal history.

We hope you will consider a gift to support Farm Aid this holiday season. When you do, a generous and vocal supporter of Farm Aid’s work, Joe DeFeo & Juran Inc., will match your donation dollar for dollar!

We are proud to honor your donation by working tirelessly on behalf of the American family farmer. When they are able to thrive on their land, our own local communities are stronger because of it.

Lauren's Farm and Food Roundup

2011-12-08T13:41:00.002-05:00

This sounds familiar: the larvae-killing gene Monsanto put into its corn is no longer killing larvae. Looks like this newest generation of pests has once again developed a resistance to Monsanto’s latest attempt to thwart them through genetic engineering. This situation calls to mind a quote from Albert Einstein: “Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.”

In related news, Hungarian government regulators called for 1,000 acres of maize to be plowed under in July after finding that some of the area had been planted with genetically modified seeds from Monsanto (genetically modified seeds are banned in Hungary). No resistant corn-munching larvae for Hungary!

An overview and photos of the Farmers’ March in New York, organized by Occupy Wall Street’s food justice committee.

Anne Lappé dissects the arguments of opponents to the local and sustainable food movement, explaining what is left out when they make claims of inefficiency, lower-than-genetically-engineered crop yields and high costs.

So maybe we invented the iPad, but we have a thing or two to learn from generations past. Scroll across the decades shown in this infographic to see the changing (and growing) sources of Americans’ calories.

Some farmers are choosing horsepower over tractors, offering their land natural fertilizer, less soil compaction and a slower pace of life--no oil required.

An infographic breaking down the real meaning of food insecurity. One out of seven households in the U.S. was food insecure at some point in 2010.

Farmers and Eaters Occupy Food!

2011-12-07T11:10:00.001-05:00

The Occupy movement has taken root in major cities across the world, in small towns across America and even in our fields and pastures! No matter what your political affiliation, there’s no denying the facts: corporations have taken control of the vast majority of our wealth, our jobs, and our political power. And as folks who have worked to end the corporate control of agriculture for 26 years, we at Farm Aid can’t help but equate this economic inequality to our food system.

Just four corporations control 84% of beef packing and 66% of pork production, and Monsanto alone controls more than 93% of soybeans and 80% of corn grown in the United States. Family farmers are expected to serve all of us good food at cheap prices in a political and economic climate that does not serve their interests. These farmers, less than 2% of the population in this country, are facing record corporate concentration in the agricultural markets, unpredictable fluctuation in the marketplace and unfair contracts from corporations in order to eke out a living off of the land. America’s food system is ripe for change; the time is now!

On Sunday, Farm Aid joined hundreds of fellow farm advocacy groups, food justice organizations, activists, eaters, and most importantly, family farmers, from across rural and urban America for the Occupy Wall Street Farmers’ March. In La Plaza Cultural Community Garden farmers and activists spoke out against the devastating effects that corporate control has had on the health of eaters, our natural resources, family farm agriculture and our economy before marching together to Zuccotti Park. The gathering brought awareness to the issues, but also celebrated the resilience and innovation of family farmers and fostered inspiration and a vision for a better future for agriculture free from corporate control.

Mike Callicrate, a rancher and rural advocate from Kansas, attributed the loss of farmers across the U.S. as a direct result of corporate control. “In the last thirty years we have lost ninety percent of our pork producers...we’ve lost over forty percent of our ranchers; we’ve lost over eighty percent of our dairymen because of big, corporate, abusive power.” But, Mike finds hope for America’s family farmers in the Occupy movement. “What I see happening with Occupy Wall Street is a transition taking place, from people being these ravenous, aggressive, price shopping consumers transitioning and transforming into citizens. It is not something to be critical of; it is something to build upon...Big Money is in control of everything. It’s about profit over people. It is now time for us to fix it.”

Jim Gerritsen, a Maine seed farmer, has fought against corporate control in the fields where he harvests non-GMO, organic seed, and in the courtroom where he is lead plaintiff in a class-action lawsuit against biotech giant, Monsanto. He knows a thing or two about how corporate domination affects all of us in the food system. “The corporate control of our economy, of our government, the joblessness that they’ve created and the exit from the farms is directly related to concentration of corporations in agriculture. The quality of the food you’re getting and the fact that farm gate prices are low and that grocery store prices are high, this is all attributable to the corporate dominance of Big Ag.”

Like Mike, Jim feels that all farmers, eaters and activists, “have a stake in this and its time that we take this back. The corporations are not going to give it up willingly, but we need to go ahead and assert our control and fix this broken system...This Occupy movement has become the conscience of America. The farmers in America support this movement and see the system is not working and it’s got to be corrected.”

Honk bands and drummers accompanied the marchers waving their signs from La Plaza to Zuccotti Park where folks swapped heirloom seeds, enjoyed a farm-fresh meal together and stepped up to the Peoples’ Microphone to voice their commitment to Occupy the Food System. Farm Aid’s Farm Advocate, Joel Morton, reminded everyone present that despite the challenges we face in fixing our broken food system “family farmers are a source of hope. They grow healthy food, build local economies and care for the soil and water. There is a growing demand for family farmed food, but we will never know a healthy food system until we establish a healthy economy for family farmers...Our food and farms are too important to be put into the hands of a few corporations.”

The Occupy movement started by focusing on the banking system, but the truth is corporate control extends to all facets of our live. Since Farm Aid started in 1985, the control of our food system by corporations has exploded. Farmers being involved in bringing attention to this issue is nothing new. Farmers, perhaps more than anyone, know the damage that corporate concentration causes. For more information, click here and here.

Farm Aid Music Monday, Starring Buddy Guy & John Mayer

2011-12-05T15:42:00.005-05:00

This Music Monday features a video that's gotten a lot of enthusiastic comments on our YouTube channel. It's blues and jazz legend Buddy Guy playing "What Kind of Woman Is This?" with John Mayer at Farm Aid 2005 in Tinley Park, Illinois. Why this video? Because people have said things like:

"That was a treat for the ears and soul. :)"
"Buddy Guy and John Mayer are just amazing!! The whole band is great. :) This is what i think is real music and should never be forgotten."
"I've been waiting for YEARS now for somebody to upload a good quality version of this after! Thank you, thank you, thank you!"
"This is likely THE best jam on YouTube! ~wow~"
"That was incredibly amazingly fantastic. it definitely needs more views. Share it guys ! Share it ! :O"

I can't argue with words like that. Consider this video shared:

Looking for more Farm Aid videos? Find them on Farm Aid's YouTube channel.

Lauren's Farm and Food Roundup

2011-12-01T16:15:00.001-05:00

A new U.S. Department of Agriculture report found that farm sales have just about doubled in the past two decades, from about $650 million, adjusted for inflation, in the early 1990s to about $1.2 billion these days. Sales of “local foods,’’ (including direct sales at farmers markets and those sold through grocers and restaurants) amounted to $4.8 billion in 2008, and the department predicts locally grown foods will generate $7 billion in sales this year. Going loco for local!

The National Young Farmers’ Coalition, surveyed more than 1,000 young farmers nationwide in an effort to identify the pitfalls that are keeping a new generation of Americans from going into agriculture. Their findings? Difficulty accessing credit, inadequate educational infrastructure for farming, rising land prices, and an inability to compete with corporate farms.

Today about 31 states have adopted “cottage food laws,” allowing legal home-based food production on a small scale. This allows producers who are looking to generate extra income to avoid renting a commercial kitchen that can cost upwards of $25 per hour.

Rejoice, for pizza is a vegetable!? A new spending bill would continue to allow tomato paste on pizzas to be counted as a vegetable, as it is now. The bill puts the breaks on the USDA’s attempts to change the pizza-is-a-vegetable rule and limit potatoes in school lunches, delaying limits on sodium and a requirement to boost whole grains. The change of plans was was heavily lobbied for by food companies that produce frozen pizzas, the salt industry and potato growers. Bummer, I thought we had found the legendary pizza tree.

Detroit’s urban farming scene could get a boost, as Michigan’s Democratic state senator is preparing to introduce legislation that would exempt the city from a provision in the state's Right to Farm Act which restricts municipalities from exercising regulatory authority over agriculture. Advocates of urban agriculture blame the provision for making it practically impossible to convert Detroit's abundant fallow land for use by commercial farmers, because the city is reluctant to cede regulatory control when issues -- like traffic and farm odors -- might arise.

Despite the fact that study after study has demonstrated its dangers, Atrazine remains one of the most commonly used herbicides in the U.S., (it is applied to more than 75% of U.S. cornfields). The pesticide has been banned by the European Union, but Syngenta (the manufacturer of the substance) has funded research that seems to have convinced the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency that it’s totally safe. I suppose it is—if you don’t mind cancer, extremely irregular menstrual cycles and suppressed immune function.

New article on Farm Aid's past, present and future in Billboard magazine

2011-12-01T14:16:00.008-05:00

I'm very happy to be able to share a recent Billboard magazine article with you. It talked about Farm Aid's origins in 1985 and how our work has developed over the years since then. The article also includes an interview with Farm Aid co-founder and president Willie Nelson, outlines what makes the HOMEGROWN food served at our concerts different and speak with Rhonda Perry of the Missouri Rural Crisis Center and Patchwork Family Farms about having Farm Aid as a longtime ally.

We're proud of the article — click here to read a PDF version with photos or here to read a plain-text version. Here's an excerpt:

This is what the music business has long known about Farm Aid:

On one day, each year, since 1985, Farm Aid co-founders Willie Nelson, Neil Young and John Mellencamp have gathered an all-star roster of musicians for a high-profile benefit concert to support the men and women who help feed America.

With Dave Matthews later joining the organization's board in 2001, Farm Aid through the years has welcomed hundreds of artists to its stage, from the inaugural event in Champaign, Ill., to this past summer's show in Kansas City, Kan. Along the way, it has raised more than $39 million to help keep American's family farmers on their land.

This is what the music business may not know about Farm Aid:

The support of the music industry has helped Farm Aid influence a profound shift in the cultural landscape of the country during the past quarter century.

The organization's work, as Nelson has said, simply affects everyone who eats.

Farm Aid deserves credit for promoting many of the positive developments in food culture in the United States in recent years: the growth of farmers markets, the rise of community-supported agriculture groups, the spread of farm-to-table "slow food" restaurants and the wider use of sustainable farming practices.

And those changes in food culture and farming practices, in turn, are affecting much broader issues, from health-care costs to the fight against climate change...

Read the full article in this PDF or click here to read a text version.

Farm Aid Music Monday, Starring Arlo Guthrie & Thanksgiving Wrap-Up

2011-11-28T12:19:00.006-05:00

Today's Music Monday features all 16.5 minutes of Arlo Guthrie's classic song "Alice's Restaurant," which has become something of a Thanksgiving tradition for many music fans. Arlo performed at the very first Farm Aid in 1985 and has joined us seven more times over the years in support of family farmers. Here's his performance from 2005 in Tinley Park, Illinois:

Last week, we asked people in our Putting it into Practice column and on our Facebook page for ways in which they're honoring family farmers on Thanksgiving. Here are a few highlights, starting with a haiku poem from the commenter "HOMEGROWNer" (there were a few other haiku poems submitted, so if you're a fan go take a look!):

Thanksgiving draws near
Haikus making me hungry
Thanks, family farmers!
Turkeys, turnips, yum
Stuffing takes the cake (or, pie)
Tryptophan, oh no!!

Nina M. responded on our Facebook page with the makings of a great Thanksgiving meal:

Picked up my turkey from a local farm yesterday. Today I picked up my pie from local baker using locally made cream, local eggs, fresh, local pumpkin. Whipping some local cream tomorrow for the pie. Locally made bread for my stuffing.

But the person whose table I would have liked to have been seated at has to be commenter "llc":

Turkeys - 45 lbs of local free range meat from Clark Family Farm
Roasted Root Vegetables - from MAD Farm & Hoyland Farm
Mashed Potatoes - from Hoyland Farm & Iwig Dairy
Goat Cheese Appetizer - from Goddard Farm
Asian Slaw - with radishes from Moon on the Meadow

Other ingredients include:
Eggs from Stony Point Farm
Italian sausage from Beeler Farm
Bread made with local flour from Wheatfield's Bakery

Everything else is mostly organic and sourced as local as possible.... the one "farm" we did not support was the farm that raises salmon... ours is wild caught from Alaska....

Happy Thanksgiving Everyone!!!!!

Thank you for supporting your local farmers!

Looking for more Farm Aid videos? Find them on Farm Aid's YouTube channel.

Thanksgiving Recipe: A Light Cocktail to Celebrate

2011-11-22T12:08:00.008-05:00

When you think of supporting family farmers, you probably think about what goes on your plate. But what goes into your glass can also have an effect — see this Putting it into Practice column titled "Raise a toast to family farmers! How your drink choices can support them." for more. Fresh and local apple cider's delicious, as are turning fresh berries and juices into homemade sodas. Sometimes when you're celebrating, though, a little alcohol is called for.

With so much food typically served at Thanksgiving meals, I like to start things off with a light drink. In fact, this Dry Vermouth Sangaree cocktail has become my go-to alcoholic drink to serve at the start of a party. Why? It's delicious and also fairly low in alcohol, so guests won't fall asleep until after dessert's over. I like that it uses a couple ingredients usually underrepresented in cocktails: dry vermouth as a main ingredient, and maple syrup as a sweetener. I'll use almost any excuse to increase my maple syrup intake and find it adds a lot more interesting flavor than plain sugar in cooking or cocktails. It's also made by family farmers all over and I get some through my CSA. And dry vermouth is usually a dusty, half-forgotten bottle that some wiseacre at your party will joke about if you add it to your martini. But this drink shows it can be the star ingredient in a cocktail on its own merits.

The Dry Vermouth Sangaree
Adapted from Jeffrey Morgenthaler

Makes one drink, feel free to double or triple the recipe (if your cocktail shaker's big enough).

3 oz dry vermouth (there are some interesting brands available nowadays, try something new out!)
1/4 oz maple syrup
1/4 oz hot/warm water
1 tsp Allspice Dram liqueur
1 large strip orange peel
Freshly grated nutmeg

Mix the water and maple syrup so it's a little less viscous, then add all other ingredients to a cocktail shaker with ice. Shake and strain into a cold cocktail glass. Garnish with a fresh strip of orange peel.

Alternatively, you can make a maple-nutmeg syrup and use 1/2 oz of that in place of the maple syrup, water and nutmeg listed above:

To make maple-nutmeg syrup, combine 8 ounces each of Grade B maple syrup and water, and 1 tbsp freshly-grated nutmeg. Simmer, covered, for 20 minutes. Let cool, strain out solids, bottle and chill.

If you're looking for something you can make ahead of time and serve a large group, this Spiced Apple Cider Sangria should fit the bill!

Find more family farmer recipes and print your own menu to salute your family chefs and the family farmers who provided your food on our Thanksgiving page!

Maple syrup photo licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license.

Thanksgiving Recipe: Roasted Carrots & Parsnips with Ginger-Scallion Glaze

2011-11-22T10:13:00.007-05:00

Thanksgiving approaches! Visit our Thanksgiving page to get more recipes and print out a menu you can fill in to honor the chefs in your family and the family farmers who grew the food you enjoy.

I've recently been going to my local "winter" farmers market despite the calendar date — I guess the cool weather makes it close enough (I wrote about the type of things I found there when I visited last January). One thing I always pick up is carrots, no matter what season is. They last pretty well in the fridge and I love munching 'em raw or roasting them in recipes like this. On Thanksgiving, sometimes you need an easy side dish you can do without thinking too hard and I think this fits the bill. I think carrots and especially parsnip match really well with the flavor of ginger, so here you go. The scallions help bring back some edge to counter the natural sweetness of the roasted vegetables.

Roasted Carrots & Parsnips with Scallion-Ginger Glaze
Recipe adapted from The Food Matters Cookbook by Mark Bittman.

Makes: 4 to 8 servings

About 1 pound of carrots and parsnips, or all carrots, sliced diagonally about 3 inches long
4 tablespoons vegetable oil
2 tablespoons minced ginger
1⁄4 cup chopped scallions
1 tablespoon minced garlic
1/2 teaspoon salt

1. Pre-heat the oven to 400°. Toss carrots and parsnips with 2 tablespoons of the vegetable oil on a baking sheet and roast them, shaking the pan and turning them occasionally, until tender and browned, 30 to 40 minutes.

2. While they cook, mix the ginger, scallions, garlic, and 1⁄2 teaspoon salt together in a heatproof bowl. Put the remaining 2 tablespoons oil in a small saucepan or skillet over high heat until smoking. Carefully pour the oil over the ginger-scallion mixture and mix well, mashing a bit with the back of your spoon. (You can make this mixture ahead and can store it in the refrigerator for up to 3 days.)

3. Remove the carrots and parsnips from the oven and toss them with the ginger-scallion mixture. Serve warm.

Farm Aid Music Monday, Starring Willie & Lukas Nelson

2011-11-21T14:09:00.002-05:00

It's the week for Thanksgiving, so my thoughts turn to family on this Music Monday. Today we've got a video from this year's Farm Aid concert in Kansas City where Willie Nelson was joined onstage by his son Lukas to perform "Fathers and Mothers."

Check out more videos on Farm Aid's YouTube channel.

Farmer Hero Friday: Courtney & Jacob Cowgill of Conrad, Montana

2011-11-18T13:31:00.002-05:00

Today's Farmer Hero Friday features Courtney and Jacob Cowgill. They raise heritage, pastured turkeys and grow a variety of organic vegetables in Montana, but their real passion is for their ancient grains. They hope to prove that small-scale farming is a relevant and effective way to make a living in modern agriculture.

The family has now established a 40-member vegetable CSA (Community Supported Agriculture)—the only one within a 150-mile radius. Courtney explains that while CSAs have become fairly prevalent in more heavily populated areas, they are ironically more difficult to come by as you move further into farm territory.

"There are all these [CSAs] happening in urban agriculture, and we thought, ‘Rural places are where agriculture was born, so we might as well give it a shot and see if these kinds of things can happen in rural Montana too.'"

With the success of their vegetable CSA, they are also working on growing their grain and beans CSA that began last year. “We want to get people thinking locally and regionally about their staples too. We don’t want to do vegetables forever. It’s these grains that sort of captured our fancy.”

Click here to read the rest of our profile of Courtney and Jacob.

Farm Aid Music Monday, Starring Neil Young (and a Happy Birthday wish)

2011-11-14T16:33:00.003-05:00

Today's Music Monday post features Neil Young. Please join us in wishing him a belated Happy Birthday, as his birthday was on Saturday, November 12. We're grateful for all he has done for Farm Aid over the past 26 years and for his musical contributions for years prior to that.

We've finished uploading all of his Farm Aid 2011 performance to our YouTube channel and you can watch all six videos using this playlist:

Check out more videos on Farm Aid's YouTube channel.

Lauren's Farm and Food Roundup

2011-11-11T11:37:00.001-05:00

GIPSA (Grain Inspection, Packers and Stockyard Administration) rules recently received a metaphorical kick in the shins. While some important changes to the poultry and pork markets are moving forward, it appears that for now, the four beef packing companies who control 90 percent of the industry will continue to make it impossible for small ranchers to get a fair price for livestock.

Seventy eight percent – more U.S. families than ever before – say they are choosing organic foods, according to a study published today by the Organic Trade Association (OTA). The strongest motivators for doing so included the belief that organic products are healthier, concern over the effects of pesticides, hormones and antibiotics on children and the desire to avoid highly processed or artificial ingredients.

A study conducted by the National Bureau of Economic Research found that as ozone levels (resulting from industrial emissions) decreased, worker productivity in the affected area increased. The study presents a counterpoint to those who argue that jobs would be lost if stricter government regulation of air pollution was put in place. On average, when ozone levels declined by 10 parts per billion — approximately the level of tightening proposed by the Environmental Protection Agency — worker productivity climbed 4.2 percent. It is estimated that this boost in productivity might yield a $1.1 billion annual increase in economic value in the nation’s agricultural sector.

Grist’s Tom Laskawy offers his thoughts on how to sustainably feed the now seven billion occupants of the world—namely, by overcoming political obstacles that cause us to wreak havoc on the planet.

Bruce Bradley, a former food marketer at companies like Nabisco, General Mills and Pillsbury, dishes on food industry deception and his transition from the Big Food world to Community Supported Agriculture. Bradley says, “Cheap food is very expensive once you add up the true costs -- like the taxes you pay to subsidize Big Food companies, health consequences like obesity or diabetes, the devastating harm to our environment, and the inhumane treatment of animals raised within the industrialized food system.”

The National Young Farmers Coalition has released their first report, Building a Future With Farmers: Challenges Faced by Young, American Farmers and a National Strategy to Help Them Succeed, on the resources that the next generation will need to overcome the tremendous barriers to starting a career in agriculture.

According to new data released by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, sales of antibiotics intended for domestic food animals increased 6.7 percent from 2009 to 2010, while total meat production only increased 1.3 percent. I think I’ll take a rain check on that hamburger.

On a more positive note, on November 1st Chicago Public Schools began serving local chicken raised without antibiotics to students in 473 schools. The program includes about 1.2 million pounds from Amish farms—no other district in the nation is serving this kind of poultry regularly at such a scale. Students will be offered bone-in chicken two to three times each month.

Farmers Helping Farmers: The Farm Aid Haylift

2011-11-08T10:00:00.000-05:00

Since mid-August, Farm Aid has engaged in hay lift efforts to Oklahoma and Texas to help funnel livestock feed to low-income farmers and ranchers in those drought-plagued states.

The Oklahoma hay lift was initiated on August 12 with a direct appeal for help from Willard Tillman of the Oklahoma Black Historical Society at the National Meeting of Farm Advocates in Bonner Springs, Kansas. In response, Farm Aid immediately teamed with Family Farm Defenders of Wisconsin and the Federation of Southern Cooperatives to set up a hay pipeline as quickly as possible. Wisconsin farmers responded quickly and generously to Family Farm Defenders’ call for hay donations, while Farm Aid and the Federation undertook fundraising and Farm Aid arranged for transport of donated hay. The first shipment arrived in Oklahoma City within 12 days.

Since then, we have arranged three more hay runs to Oklahoma. All told, the effort so far has delivered close to 20 tons of hay to limited resource producers in Oklahoma, with the total dollar value of hay (all of it donated) and transport (much of it of donated) topping $50,000. Farms in Wisconsin, Nebraska and Michigan have all donated hay to Oklahoma, and we are proud to report that this is effort is all about farmers-helping-farmers. One farmer who received hay wrote us, "I just wanted you to know it has truly been a blessing to us and we appreciate it and the cows do too!"

Meanwhile, in Texas, Farm Aid has worked with several partners to assist ally organizations in shipping donated hay to the Lone Star state. We arranged transport for a hay run between Iowa and Texas for the Lutheran Church, whose Texas pastors appealed to Iowa pastors to ask their rural congregations for donated hay. We made a disaster grant of $2,500 to the Texas Organic Farmers & Gardeners Association (TOFGA) to help pay for transport of certified organic hay donated from Iowa, and have put TOFGA in touch with additional organic farmers in other states willing to donate hay. We are also working with contacts in central Texas to line up hay donations from various states, including Louisiana, Virginia and elsewhere.

Watch a video of the hay arriving in Texas and being distributed to ranchers here.

Just as farmers in other parts of the country have stepped up to help Texas and Oklahoma farmers who are in trouble, we know those Oklahomans and Texans receiving hay now will return the favor when the natural disaster wheel of fortune spins again and lands elsewhere. Though the scale of drought disaster in those two states is staggering, and state and federal government cooperation and intervention are clearly needed, Farm Aid is proud to be working directly with farmers, truckers, and farm support, social service, and religious organizations that have taken it upon themselves to try to provide help as fast as possible where it is most needed. We thank everyone who has pitched in so far. If you or someone you know may be able to help us out, please contact me directly at joel@farmaid.org.

Glenda Learns About Organic Cotton Production

2011-11-07T15:07:00.000-05:00

A Farm Aid T-shirt has quite a story, and I'm on a mission to find out more. I'm riding on a bus next to Darlene Vogler, organic cotton grower from Lamesa, Texas. Darlene attended Farm Aid 2011 in Kansas, and had never been anywhere where farmers are celebrated more. Concert-goers thanked her for being a farmer!

The bus pulls off the highway onto dusty red soiled roads so we can get into the fields. Puffy cotton plants, almost ready to harvest, stretch to the horizon. Irrigation rigs arch above the fields.

The farmers and staff from TX Organic Cotton Marketing Cooperative (TOCMC) lead this tour, and we can easily see that the drought has taken a toll this year. This is the lowest yield in 15 years, says the USDA Cotton Classification office. The farmers are disappointed, of course, but thankful for loyal buyers of the crop.

Anvil Knitwear is the biggest buyer of US organic cotton, and TOCMC is the biggest producer of US organic cotton. I'm so impressed by the farmers, whose perseverance through drought and adversity is strengthened by their solid cooperation with each other. The 30 farmer members cultivate about 10,000 acres. Rotation crops include peanuts, beans, wheat, and blackeyed peas. The farms are organically certified by the TX Department of Agriculture. The farmers grow what is ordinarily a highly chemically produced crop without the use of synthetic fertilizer, pesticides and herbicides. Livestock compost builds up the soil and farmers save their own seeds.

Farm Aid is always pleased to participate with sponsors and supporters in telling the story of farmers who grow our food and fiber. Anvil Knitwear produces Farm Aid T-shirts from these farmers. The organic cotton seeds become high nutrient feed for dairy cows on Horizon Organic farms. And another of our supporters, Chipotle Mexican Grill, was on the tour because they are sourcing organic cotton for their uniforms.

It takes all of us to help farmers thrive, growing crops in a way that is good for the soil and for us.

I love wearing my organic/transitional cotton T-shirt from TX farmers. What a talkative shirt!

Lauren's Farm and Food Roundup

2011-11-04T15:37:00.001-04:00

An interactive graphic from Scientific American depicts estimations of when minerals, water, energy sources and plant and animal species will be exhausted if humanity continues on its current trajectory.

Back in August, the historic Texas drought had caused $5.3 billion in losses in the agricultural sector. We have already seen impacts in global commodities like cotton and beef. With projections that the drought could last until next summer or longer, it is becoming increasingly apparent that extreme weather patterns are a global issue.

Eddie Miller will mow your lawn. Well, his sheep will. For a fee, he’ll rent out his herd to Ohio residents for a few hours to a few days to keep grass and weeds at bay. Free food for the sheep and a zero carbon emission trim for the lawn. I’ll “baa” to that.

According to a study by the Center for Food Integrity (CFI), consumers appear to be losing faith in “Big Food.” In one piece of the study, CFI tested the difference in consumer attitudes toward two farming styles and found that, while consumers by and large thought family farmers shared their values, they believed corporate farms did not. Rock on, family farmers!

Seeking to increase opportunities for the young farmer demographic, the bipartisan Beginning Farmer and Rancher Opportunity Act of 2011 has been introduced in the House. An identical bill is expected to be introduced in the Senate in early November. According to the National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition (NSAC), the bill addresses many of the barriers that prevent young people from pursuing agriculture, such as limited access to land and markets, high input costs and a lacking support system.

The U.S. Supreme Court has taken up a case concerning how the pork industry is required to handle "nonambulatory pigs" – pigs unwilling or unable to walk when they arrive at a slaughterhouse. In California, under the current law (the subject of dispute), they are required to remove such animals and humanely euthanize them out of concern that they might be sick and taint other meat during processing. Federal law, however, does not stipulate that non-ambulatory animals cannot be slaughtered and introduced to the food system. The meat associations want the California law struck down.

The Ohio Department of Agriculture (ODA) reached an agreement this week to withdraw a controversial dairy labeling rule. In 2008, the State of Ohio issued an emergency regulation to prohibit labeling dairy products as produced without the use of the artificial growth hormone, recombinant bovine Growth Hormone (rbGH). Finally, Ohio dairy farmers have won the right to make sure consumers know their milk doesn't contain rbGH!

Farm Aid Music Monday, Starring Willie Nelson & Karen O

2011-10-31T10:40:00.004-04:00

For today's Music Monday, we're taking a break from Farm Aid 2011 videos and going back in time to 2001. Why? Because today is BOORITO day at Chipotle Mexican Grill! You can get a $2 burrito when you wear a family farm-inspired costume from 6pm to closing. Half of that money goes to Farm Aid and the other half goes to Chipotle's Cultivate Foundation.

As part of Chipotle's BOORITO promotion, they created a spooky video called "Abandoned" that features Karen O (vocalist of the Yeah Yeah Yeahs) covering Willie Nelson's classic "Mammas Don't Let Your Babies Grow Up to be Cowboys." Here's Willie singing it at Farm Aid 2001 Noblesville, Indiana and right below that is Karen O's version:

Be sure to snap a photo in your costume after you get your burrito tonight, then upload it to Farm Aid's Facebook page (you'll see the upload form later today). The two people whose photos get the most votes, get VIP tickets to Farm Aid's 2012 concert! Five other random entrants will win Farm Aid prize packs.

Find the closest Chipotle by clicking here. Check out more videos on Farm Aid's YouTube channel.

Lauren's Farm And Food Roundup

2011-10-28T10:32:00.001-04:00

An update from the National Sustainable Agriculture Committee on the progress of what could pan out to be the speediest Farm Bill on record. The proposal, which will reflect a net $23 billion cut in mandatory farm bill spending over the next decade, is to be submitted by the Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction by November 1st. And could mean that you and I have no say in the Farm Bill.

Rural activists are proving that you don’t need to be anywhere near Wall Street to be a part of the Occupy Movement. Living on Earth’s Bruce Gellerman talks with a Nebraska-native who is occupying her pasture in solidarity with the 99 percent.

U.S. Rep. Chellie Pingree announced her introduction of the Local Farms, Food and Jobs Act that would reroute some federal subsidies from large-scale industrial producers to small, often family-owned local farms.

It’s almost time for a Boo-rito! Head into a Chipotle on Halloween in a costume inspired by the family farm and get a $2 burrito—all the proceeds will benefit Farm Aid and The Chipotle Cultivate Foundation!

Drought and disease in states such as Georgia and Texas have caused a peanut shortage that may cause a 25 to 40 percent spike in the price of peanut butter in the coming weeks. If you’re a PB&J fanatic, it may be time to stock up.

Check out these photos of how people across the country celebrated Food Day last weekend!

In the UK, a farmer was tasked with growing Mickey Mouse pumpkins for DisneyLand Paris. Check them out!

Farm Aid's Halloween Photo Contest

2011-10-26T15:12:00.003-04:00

Come to any Chipotle Mexican Grill on Halloween — Monday October 31 — after 6pm dressed in a costume inspired by the family farm! You'll get a $2 burrito and all of it benefits Farm Aid and Chipotle's Cultivate Foundation. Chipotle works to source food from family farms, and has long supported Farm Aid.

What’s fair game? Get creative: Be your favorite crop, a farmer, farm animal, or even your favorite Farm Aid artist!

While you’re in your costume at Chipotle, take a photo and upload it to Farm Aid’s contest page on Facebook. The two people whose photo gets the most votes win VIP tickets to Farm Aid’s 2012 concert. We’ll also award Farm Aid t-shirts and prize packs to five random entrants who uploaded photos.

Visit Chipotle's website to read more about BOORITO and click here to find your nearest Chipotle Mexican Grill.

Farm Aid staff visited a local Chipotle today at lunch to show you how it's done! We've got several family farmers here, a free-range egg, some family farmed bacon and even a friendly barn spider.

Save the date and get your costume ready! Thanks for your support.

Lauren's Farm and Food Roundup

2011-10-20T16:58:00.002-04:00

Here’s the latest on the controversy revolving around the Keystone XL Pipeline that would transport tar sands from Canada to the U.S., cutting through farmland and passing dangerously close to the Ogallala Aquifer. While President Obama has said he will not make a decision until the end of the year, opponents and advocates alike have been throwing their weight around in an effort to tip the scales in their favor.

The FDA announced on Wednesday that the deadly Listeria outbreak was likely due to pools of water on the floor and old, hard-to-clean equipment at a Colorado farm’s cantaloupe packing facility. The equipment had previously been used at a potato-processing facility, and the bacteria could have been introduced from the past use of the machine. The Center for Disease Control and Prevention says 123 people were sickened in the outbreak including the 25 who died.

The African Cocoa Initiative, a proposal to invest in sustainable cocoa programs in West Africa, will be launched in the coming weeks. Cocoa is one of the most significant crops in West and Central Africa, 90 percent of which is grown on 2 million small family farms. Funding will go toward improving farmer incomes, alleviating poverty, strengthening government and regional institutions, and helping to advance food security throughout the region.

In response to the discovery of the disease Infectious Salmon Anemia in wild salmon off the coast of British Columbia (a previously benign disease that mutated and ran rampant through densely-packed farmed salmon populations), Paul Greenburg explains the options for preventing farmed fish from spreading disease to wild fish populations.

Lawmakers are calling for the end of the direct payment program, a subsidy that was created in 1996 to wean farmers off of government support. Unfortunately, it appears that most of the money “saved” by doing so will go towards a new subsidy that will continue to benefit commodity farmers.

In that same vein, would ridding our food system of subsidies actually make it healthier? Civil Eats blog reviews the history of government supported agriculture and explains why throwing it out won’t miraculously make zucchini cheaper than donuts.

And word is spreading that the congressional "super committee," deciding where to find $1.5 trillion in savings over the next ten years, may also decide the fate of the next Farm Bill.

The March Goes On - Demanding Mandatory Labels for Genetically Engineered Foods

2011-10-18T17:28:00.000-04:00

A few hundred protestors from across the country arrived at the White House this past Sunday, the culmination of the two-week GMO Right2Know March that began in New York City on October 1. (Congratulations all you brave marchers - my feet ache just thinking about it!) The demand behind all this foot traffic: that President Obama honors his campaign promise to label genetically engineered (GE) foods (also commonly referred to as GMOs or genetically modified organisms). Despite having opened the proverbial GE floodgates this past year, allowing even more untested and unrestrained GE products into our environment and marketplace, Obama actually campaigned around the idea of mandatory GE labeling. In fact, during his 2007 campaign he said that as president he’d “let folks know when their food is genetically modified because Americans have a right to know what they’re buying.”

For decades, behemoth biotech companies like Monsanto have lobbied against labeling products containing their GE crops – including plants modified to live after being sprayed with herbicides and plants which produce pesticides in every one of their cells. Their argument is that these plants are no different than those that didn’t undergo this genetic modification. Considering these plants could never exist naturally and require human manipulation at the molecular level, I’d have to disagree. As do 93% of recently polled Americans, who believe there should be a mandatory label for GE foods. We have a right to know what’s in our food and what we’re feeding our families.

If you weren’t one of the protesters to make the long trek from NYC to DC, the “march” to label GE foods continues. This time the target is the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) who has both the power and responsibility to require a mandatory label for GE foods. And you don’t have to lace-up your shoes this time around. Instead, click here and join Farm Aid and more than 400 organizations across the country as we call on the FDA to mandate labeling for all GE foods.

This isn’t just about our rights as eaters. Labeling GE foods will help family farmers who don’t plant GE seeds to have a stronger market for selling their goods. We know that mandatory labeling will not fix all that’s wrong with the regulation of genetic engineering, but it’s an important step in restoring our rights as both eaters and farmers.

Still not sure what’s the big deal over genetic engineering in our food supply? Click here to check out Farm Aid’s fact sheet and position on the topic.

Farm Aid Music Monday, Starring Neil Young

2011-10-17T10:22:00.002-04:00

It's a beautiful fall morning here in New England, so why not celebrate with a couple new videos for this Music Monday? Here are two Neil Young performances from August 13 at Farm Aid 2011 in Kansas City. The first I've picked is "Sugar Mountain," just because it's one of my favorites and Neil has only played twice before at Farm Aid.

The second video is "Peaceful Valley Boulevard," which Neil has never played at Farm Aid (it's off his 2010 "Le Noise" album).

Check out more videos on Farm Aid's YouTube channel.

Farmer Hero Friday: Tom Nuessmeier of Le Sueur, Minnesota

2011-10-14T15:08:00.002-04:00

Today's Farmer Hero Friday focuses on Tom Nuessmeier, a fifth generation farmer in Minnesota. Along with his family, he runs an organic farm and raises hogs while employing many conservation practices to keep the land productive for many years to come.

Tom Nuessmeier and his family recently experienced an early frost that halted the growth of a majority of their soybean crop weeks before the plants typically reach maturity. On a monoculture farm, this would have meant disaster. The Nuessmeiers, however, had already harvested and sold their winter grain, and grow several other crops which were unaffected by the frost. This diversity of crops is largely a result of the fact that almost all of the family’s land is certified organic and enrolled in the Conservation Stewardship Program (CSP) enacted as part of the 2002 Farm Bill.

The CSP is a voluntary conservation program that encourages producers to address resource concerns, and rewards them for their conservation performance. CSP provides financial and technical assistance to help land stewards conserve and enhance soil, water, air, and related natural resources on their land. “Of course we’re farming for profitability, but we’re also trying to maintain environmental sensitivity,” says Tom. “We want to farm in harmony with nature, even though it’s working land.”

Click here to read the rest of our profile of Tom.

Lauren's Farm and Food Roundup

2011-10-13T14:41:00.001-04:00

With so much going on in the Occupy Wall Street movement, it can be tricky to stay on top of the issues being discussed. But food is definitely one of those issues, as the OWS declaration states, “[corporations] have poisoned the food supply through negligence, and undermined the farming system through monopolization.” Here’s a great blog post by Slow Food USA that further explains what food has to do with the movement.

Some eye-opening graphics from the blog, A Black Girl’s Guide to Weight Loss, about the distribution of wealth in the United States, how it plays into our political system, and what it has to do with Occupy Wall Street. The blog’s creator, Erika Kendall writes, “It ties into food because corporations have been working overtime trying to prevent us from knowing about our food – everything from veggie libel laws to outright lobbying to prevent non-GMO brands from telling us they’re non-GMO – and our government isn’t protecting us.”

Here’s a sort of “how-to” guide from the Honest Meat blog on ways to turn the discontentment on Wall Street into real solutions.

Want to share your thoughts and opinions on our food system? Check out Occupy the Food System, a Facebook page dedicated to getting back in touch with our farms and food.

Chipotle has released a new video in support of America’s small farms. The video features Yeah Yeah Yeah’s Karen O covering Willie Nelson and Waylon Jennings’ classic hit, “Mama, Don’t Let Your Babies Grow Up To Be Cowboys.”

Take a look at this op-ed on how small farmers are up against corporate meat packers with huge advertising budgets in their struggle to get the Grain Inspection, Packers and Stockyards Administration rule (GIPSA) passed. The rule would protect the basic rights of family farmers by preventing large packers from driving them out of business and allowing them to speak out against unfair practices.

Monday, October 24th is Food Day! There are events going on nationwide to celebrate sustainable eating, like Boston Food Swap’s Community Sourced Potluck. Attendees will sample local foods, and the best dishes with the best stories will win prizes from area companies with sustainability as their mission. Check out the Food Day website to find an event near you!

Farm Aid Music Monday, Starring John Mellencamp

2011-10-10T10:05:00.002-04:00

This Farm Aid Music Monday has a couple of new songs from Farm Aid 2011 in Kansas City and a belated birthday wish to John Mellencamp (his birthday was last Friday). He's a co-creator of Farm Aid and has continued to work for family farmers over the past 26 years. Here's John being introduced by fellow board member Dave Matthews and performing "Authority Song."

And here's John performing "Walk Tall."

Thanks for everything you do, John!

Check out more videos on Farm Aid's YouTube channel.

Lauren's Farm and Food Roundup

2011-10-06T16:16:00.002-04:00

Mardy Townsend explains why we can’t wait any longer to pass the GIPSA rule that would level the playing field for small-scale farmers in an industry where corporate concentration runs rampant. “The meatpacking industry, giant poultry companies, and largest food processors have forced more than 1 million American farmers and ranchers out of business since 1980.” She points out that, influenced by the biggest players in the livestock industry, the House of Representatives is trying to stop the passage of this legislation by blocking GIPSA’s funding.

The New York Times Food & Drink Issue is out! Check it out for articles on the next food trend (eating algae?), the mystery of why your toaster is so bad, taste-testing the best worst beers, and Michael Pollan’s musings on whether or not consumers can really impact factory farming, unsustainable agriculture and animal cruelty.

From Colorado’s Channel 9 News, an article about crops going bad because immigrants, legal and illegal, aren’t showing up to work for fear of being arrested. Farmers are calling on Washington to get these workers back on the land, arguing that their absence may mean higher food prices or food scarcity in the nation’s grocery stores.

One Colorado farmer hired out-of-work Americans on his farm, rather than rely on the migrant labor he traditionally has used to make his farm run smoothly. It was not a successful experiment. “Americans, he says, proved to be less reliable and less willing to perform the hard work necessary to run his corn and onion farm than foreign workers.”

Check out the designs submitted to Threadless Tees’ anti-GMO t-shirt contest.

Speaking of GMOs, Food and Water Watch recently released a report filled with GMO info for the wary consumer. The report reviews the history of GMO regulations, explains the impact of GMOs on consumers, farmers, and the world market, emphasizes the importance of GE labeling and debunks the myth that Monsanto’s GE soybeans are helping us move towards a more robust food system.

Finally, Anna Lappé continues her exposé of the U.S. Farmers and Ranchers Alliance, delving deeper into who they really represent.

Joel reports on the Texas wildfires from the Farm Aid hotline

2011-10-05T16:48:00.002-04:00

A hotline caller from Texas reported today that major wildfire has again hit the city of Bastrop and Bastrop County, Texas. What began at 2 p.m. yesterday as a small, two-acre fire was fed by strong winds and expanded extremely quickly, and by 4 p.m. had become a huge fire. Bastrop County is pine tree country and, given severe, prolonged drought, dried out pine trees burn like gas-soaked toothpicks tossed into a campfire. Catastrophe revisited. Bastrop is traumatized again but trying its best to cope.

Exactly a month ago, the city of Bastrop, about 30 miles east of Austin, made national headlines of the grimmest sort when wildfire swept through town. Residents had hardly begun to recover from that major calamity when this latest fire yesterday grew out of control so quickly, again threatening families, homes, ranches and livestock. The caller’s own 31-year-old daughter had to be hospitalized because of heart problems. The local feed store owner had a heart attack and died after the first fire. Ranches throughout the county that have not yet burned have little or no water to fight fire and many have pared down or sold off their herds. Many of those not in the path of wildfires have no hay to feed livestock.

“No matter what, “ today’s caller said, “Bastrop County will not be Bastrop County anymore. People are scared and bewildered. ” Yesterday, DC-10 and C-130 planes swooped in within a few hours—unlike the four days it took to get planes up a month ago—flying extremely low and spreading fire retardant for up to two miles at a time. Bastrop “looked like a war zone,” with charred remains of homes, stone chimneys sticking up into the sky and a blackened, soot-filled landscape.

Although largely unreported until last month, wildfires have been scourging less populated areas of the bone-dry state since last spring. Farm Aid friend and former Texas agriculture commissioner Jim Hightower made plain that Governor Rick Perry has been “months late in providing the most basic state leadership to deal with such disasters.” For the whole article, click here. To see photos of what wildfires and severe drought look like—steel yourself before looking at them--see this slideshow by the Austin Statesman.

Farm Aid is trying to help. Here is an article from the San Angelo Times about a hay run we helped coordinate to the small town of Miles, Texas.

Although this year of disasters has all of us on the verge of blinking away the latest disaster report, we ask you again to help us continue to deliver hay to those limited resource farmers in Texas and Oklahoma who cannot afford to purchase it and truck it in from out of state. Farmers in the Midwest have stepped up and done their part, donating tons of hay, which is just waiting to be picked up and delivered to drought areas. Presently, the great logistical problem—which Governor Perry is refusing to help with—is getting affordable (or donated!) trucks and truckers lined up to run hay down from the Midwest to Texas and Oklahoma. The need is immediate; animals cannot wait another two weeks or a month for something to eat. If you can help in any way—with a few dollars to help pay truckers’ fuel costs, with leads on trucks and truckers (especially those with flatbeds to carry large round bales!), or with info about farmers and ranchers who need help—email me directly at joel@farmaid.org.

Farm Aid is you, and you are Farm Aid. We cannot help America’s family farmers and ranchers without you. THANK YOU!

Lauren's Farm and Food Roundup

2011-09-30T12:57:00.000-04:00

This op-ed by Roger Johnson, president of the National Farmers Union, examines the motives of large meatpacking corporations who are blocking passage of the GIPSA rule, calling it a “job-killing” rule. As Roger writes, “Anyone who has been paying attention to what has been happening to livestock production in this country over the past 30 years must ask the question, 'Kill jobs? Compared to what?' More than one million beef and hog farms have gone out of business since 1980 due to the current anti-competitive and abusive practices by processors."

An interesting graphic summing up Mark Bittman’s Times article, “Is Junk Food Really Cheaper?” in which he compares the cost of feeding a family at McDonald’s with the cost of cooking a meal with cost-effective ingredients from the grocery store.

Extreme weather events, power outages and technical problems with cooling systems have led to the deaths of thousands of animals in confined animal feeding operations (CAFOs). While the owners of such operations argue that there are sure to be losses in extreme weather conditions, the question remains whether those animals would have survived if they were allowed to roam freely in a natural environment.

Some farmers who lost their harvest to flooding from Hurricane Irene are taking a creative approach to getting back on their feet. Throwing an end-of-season barbeque fundraiser, making an online registry requesting chicken feed and heirloom seeds, and expanding a greenhouse to protect more plants from Mother Nature are just a few of their big ideas.

On Monday, the USDA awarded $494,000 to AquaBounty, a company developing genetically modified salmon. The funds were allotted to study technologies that would render the genetically engineered fish sterile, reducing the likelihood they could reproduce with wild salmon, should any escape into the wild. According to research released by Food and Water Watch in June, up to 5% of AquaBounty’s salmon may be fertile, a possibility that has many environmentalists concerned that GMO fish could mate with wild fish.

Last week, the newly formed U.S. Farmers and Ranchers Alliance began its campaign to restore Americans’ confidence in our country’s food supply via full-page newspaper ads and live-streaming panel discussions online. But has the dialogue been one-sided, with small farmers’ voices eclipsed by the group’s central members: the largest agriculture marketing groups in the country, including the American Egg Board and the National Pork Board?

New York dairy farmers describe surviving Hurricane Irene

2011-09-29T13:36:00.002-04:00

Last month's Hurricane Irene is a distant memory for most people. They've moved on to other things — summer's green leaves are starting to turn, kids are back in school and football's back on TV. But as we posted last week, areas of New York and Vermont are still just barely starting to recover from the storm, which did cause incredible damage. The video below from FoodCurated.com, featuring David and Denise Lloyd, got passed around the Farm Aid office today as a moving illustration of the devastation Irene caused to their farm, crops and animals. Accompanied by terrifying photos and video, they describe how they will have to rebuild to keep their dairy farm, Maple Downs, operating.

Hurricane Irene Aftermath: One Farmer's Story from SkeeterNYC on Vimeo.

In the video David says, "People... come up to see landscape, which is our agriculture, which is our corn crop. It's part of us being in business to help maintain that whole picture in our community. This community started with agriculture and it's still a very important part of this community."

Food Day 2011

2011-09-28T10:09:00.006-04:00

October 24, 2011, is Food Day! The goal of Food Day, according to organizers, is to bring together Americans from all walks of life—parents, teachers, and students; health professionals, community organizers, and local officials; chefs, school lunch providers, and eaters of all stripes—to push for healthy, affordable food produced in a sustainable, humane way.

Notice anything missing there in that description? How about the people who produce our food—THE FARMERS?

That’s why Farm Aid’s getting on board! One, we never miss a party; and two, if we want to make positive change in our food system, it’s got to come from farmers and eaters working together.

Food Day is modeled after Earth Day and is intended to generate recognition of the challenges we face in changing the way we think about, produce, and consume food in America.

The ultimate goal of Food Day is to start a movement to “Eat Real” in communities across the country.

What does it mean to “Eat Real?” Food Day is about fighting for sustainable, humane, healthy, accessible and safe food. Specifically, Food Day is aimed at:

Promoting safe, healthy foods to reduce obesity and diet-related diseases
Supporting sustainable, family farms
Expanding access to food and alleviating hunger
Protecting the environment and animals by reforming factory farming methods
Promoting children’s health by reducing junk food marketing aimed at kids
Supporting fair conditions for all food and farm workers

Food Day is all about people power—people coming together for events in their communities all over the world. You can check here to see what’s going on in your neighborhood.

If you’re a farmer, we’d like to encourage you to host an event on your farm. Invite folks to come and learn about the roots of their food!

If you’re not a farmer, we encourage you to organize a potluck or an apple picking party! Or go to a farmers market, go to a farm, meet a farmer… Do something to connect with a farmer… because good food starts with farmers! Check out HOMEGROWN.org for great ideas to help you celebrate good food, from canning and making pear butter to building your own chicken coop!

Let us know what you’re going to do on Food Day to celebrate the source of our food: family farmers!

The Power of Slow

2011-09-27T10:31:00.001-04:00

Next month, I’m traveling to Slow Money’s National Gathering in San Francisco, CA. The event will gather dynamic individuals, companies and organizations that are all investing in social change—with food!

In our too-fast world full of companies that are “too big to fail” and a national debt too big to imagine, Slow Money begins with a refreshingly simple principle: slow and small are beautiful.

It’s a powerful notion causing people to pause and reconsider the long-term prospects of our giant, industrial, globalized food system controlled by just a handful of BIG corporations. Instead, the ever-growing Slow Money community is careful with its money, keeping investments closer to home in order to grow an economy with integrity, stability and sustainability.

Says Slow Money founder and chairman Woody Tasch in a recent Fast Company article:

What we are interested in is healthy food, sustainable farms, and soil fertility—and the many benefits these generate: less carbon in the atmosphere, fewer chemicals in the environment, more biodiversity in the soil and in our food supply, fewer pesticides and herbicides on our food, stable water supplies in our aquifers, less soil erosion, fewer food miles, healthier diets, maybe even healthier communities.

So what does that mean in the real world? Last year's gathering in Vermont brought together 600 people that together invested $4 million in 12 small food enterprises – a local, organic food home delivery service, an organic creamery, an inner city farming project and much, much more! The ultimate goal is to get 1 million Americans investing 1% of their money in local food systems, within a decade.

Farm Aid is attending to emphasize the importance of the family farmer in the big picture. Without thriving family farms, healthy food systems are impossible. And in order to understand farms, you have to understand the logic of a farm business and diverse financial needs of farms of all types and sizes. In an era of bank consolidations, tightening credit conditions and volatile farm prices (the price farmers earn), so many farmers are still struggling to obtain the credit and financing they need for their farms.

Slow Money is a fantastic opportunity to ground our food system and bring it back to its roots: a diverse landscape of thriving family farms that are bringing good food and strong economies to communities across the country.

Farm Aid Music Monday, Starring Willie & Lukas Nelson

2011-09-26T16:11:00.002-04:00

This Farm Aid Music Monday has a new song from Farm Aid 2011 in Kansas City. Here's Willie Nelson performing "Texas Flood" with his son, Lukas. Once again, if you've got a relatively modern computer, try watching this fullscreen in HD for the best quality.

Check out more videos on Farm Aid's YouTube channel.

Telling the story of farmers affected by Hurricane Irene in New York and Vermont

2011-09-23T11:46:00.004-04:00

While the Eastern coastline braced for Hurricane Irene back on August 27 and 28, it was inland rural and farm country that unexpectedly bore the brunt of the storm damage through extreme flooding. While we’ve recently been talking about extreme drought affecting farmers, our farmers in the Northeast received far more rain than usual this year, a combination of a wet, cool and long spring with record rainfall and higher-than-normal snowmelt. By August, the groundwater table was still quite high. Then Irene roared in.

In New York, in the Hudson Valley, the Catskills and the Black Dirt region, farmers were flooded out, with farm fields ripe for harvesting completely underwater. In Vermont, rivers overflowed their banks, blowing out bridges, collapsing houses, flooding fields, and in some cases completely changing their course, so that where a farm field once sat, a river now runs through it.

Both New York and Vermont have received federal disaster declarations, meaning that farmers and other residents who suffered losses from Irene can receive disaster payments to reimburse for those losses. Dairy farmers were particularly hard hit, with no choice but to dump their milk when milk trucks couldn’t get to their farms for pickups due to roads being completely destroyed. There’s little that could hurt more for a dairy farmer than to watch their hard work run down the drain, except the loss of members of their herd--many farmers saw their cows washed downstream in raging rivers. In the weeks since, many farmers have already been reimbursed for their dumped milk and they’re slowly getting back to normal, although some farmers are still relying on generators for power. And many are determining whether they’ll even be able to plant crops in their fields by spring.

With power and phone lines back in operation, farmers are beginning to call the Farm Aid hotline, and we’re directing them to resources that can be of assistance. But the farm communities in New York and Vermont have proven to be extremely supportive. Efforts in Vermont have raised nearly $2 million dollars in disaster relief, through a Vermont Public Radio appeal and a concert given by the Vermont band Phish. In the Black Dirt region, a fundraising concert is scheduled for this weekend. The way that communities and neighbors have pulled together has been at once inspirational and also completely expected—that’s just the way neighbors do things in communities like these.

Some of the anecdotal stories we’ve heard:

• A CSA farmer, after accessing the damage to his farm, informed his members that he was very sorry but he didn’t expect to be able to distribute any more produce. Each and every CSA member reacted positively, many saying they already received more than they had expected, and they’d all sign up again for next season.

• A young farm couple, their farm now a river, are temporarily growing again on land donated to them so they can get back on their feet.

• Farmers cut off from civilization, their driveways and roads washed out, got knocks on their doors from neighbors who walked, climbing over debris and fording rivers, with shovels and rakes in hand to help clean up.

• Crews of volunteer teams, some as large as 100 people, doing everything from cleaning up debris-strewn fields to helping to rebuild barns.

• Anonymous donations received by farmers, with notes that say “We appreciate your hard work” and “Thank you for feeding us.”

The cleanup from Hurricane Irene will take months, if not years. But a good start has already begun, with the resilience, volunteerism and generosity leading the way.

If you’re a farmer affected by Hurricane Irene, share your story with us. Or let us know how you’re supporting your local farmers in this time of rebuilding.

Lauren's Farm and Food Roundup

2011-09-22T15:35:00.008-04:00

An infographic displaying the results of a survey from the new U.S. Farmers and Ranchers Alliance on the attitudes and opinions of over 3,000 farmers, ranchers, and consumers. How much do you know about YOUR food? (By the way, the U.S. Farmers and Ranchers Alliance, if you haven't heard, is a new $30 million effort purporting to represent farmers. But if you want to join it will cost you at least $50,000 to join the Board which includes Beef Checkoff, Beef Federation, National Milk, National Pork Producers, Poultry & Egg, Neb. Soybean Assoc., Iowa Soybean Board, IL Soybean Assoc and MN Soybean Council.)

While some Texas farmers are seeing the end of their cattle ranches as a result of the ongoing drought, farmers in less-parched regions of the country are seeing an opportunity expand their operations. Check out this story featuring Illinois farmer Chad Bicker, who has been able to make additions to his herd faster than anticipated.

Some Vermont dairy farmers have been reimbursed for the milk they had to dump in the immediate aftermath of Hurricane Irene, but many are now feeling the more long-term effects of the disaster. Some are still having a tough time transporting their milk down nearly impassable roads, while others have had to take their cows out of milk production to devote their time and energy to cleaning up their farms. Hear their stories.

Dreaming about chocolate but looking for a new recipe? Not sure what to do with the eleven zucchinis in your vegetable garden? Gojee shows you how to build a delicious meal around your cravings AND what you've got in the cabinet.

The Lower Colorado River Authority is considering a drought measure that would cut off water to about 250 farmers in some of the biggest rice-producing counties in Texas if water levels fall below a certain level in lakes Buchanan and Travis on March 1. Hundreds of South Texas farmers are scrambling to figure out how they’ll keep their farms going through the most severe one-year drought in Texas history.

A recent NPR segment on how A&P grocery stores shifted the food industry from small mom-and-pop stores to big national chains.

A NY Times article on Fordham University shutting down an on-campus CSA started by one of its students. With questionable justification for the termination of the program, Fordham has blocked access to farm-fresh fruits and vegetables from its students and staff, as well as from the soup kitchen that was taking in leftover produce. A good illustration of the obstacles we face when trying to bring family farm food to institutions.

Join Willie, John, Neil and Dave in calling for fair markets for family farmers and ranchers!

2011-09-22T10:07:00.004-04:00

Yesterday, Willie Nelson, John Mellencamp, Neil Young and Dave Matthews sent a letter to Attorney General Eric Holder and Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack calling for action--action that is a long time coming.

Back in 2010, when the U.S. Departments of Justice and Agriculture announced a series of joint workshops to examine issues of corporate concentration in agriculture, family farmers were hopeful that change would come. The workshops--five of them spread throughout the year, covering all aspects of agriculture from seeds, dairy, poultry and livestock, to price margins--were a unique opportunity to examine corporate concentration, a lack of competition and lax enforcement of antitrust rules in agriculture. It was a chance for farmers and eaters to share their experiences about how this concentration affects not just farmers, but also all of us who eat and our food system as a whole. Farmers traveled from all over to the workshops, leaving their farm work to others that day (and if you know farmers, you know they don't often do this!), because of the great potential of the workshops. In addition to lost work, time and travel expenses, many farmers faced intimidation and retaliation, especially those working within the contract poultry system.

The last workshop was held in Washington, D.C., on Dec 8, 2010. Today, on September 22, 2011, we still have not heard anything back from either agency about what they heard or what they plan to do about it.

The time for action is now! Family farmers deserve fair markets. Given fair markets, we keep our family farmers working, and put new farmers on the land. And that's what we need to do if we're going to produce good food for all of the people who need it. We're talking about jobs here--something our country needs more than anything right now. Fair markets in agriculture keep family farmers in jobs, create new farmer jobs, and increase the potential to create new jobs within the local and regional food systems these farmers are growing.

If you'd like to add your voice to the voices of Willie, John, Neil and Dave, please click here to send your letter to Attorney General Holder and Secretary Vilsack. Thanks for your support for fair markets, family farmers and a stronger America!

Lauren's Farm and Food Roundup

2011-09-15T09:58:00.008-04:00

Google recently unveiled plans to collaborate with Duke University and Duke Energy in funding a pig waste-powered methane power plant in North Carolina. The refuse from 9,000 hogs can produce enough electric power to run 35 homes for an entire year!

For more information about how the plant will work, check out this link.

While we applaud innovative renewable energy efforts, one of our staff members brought up the possibility for this kind of innovation to further encourage industrial agriculture and factory farms—a dangerous potential indeed.

Another update from Bloomberg Businessweek Magazine on the reality of “superweeds” destroying cropland as they gain resistance to Monsanto’s herbicide, Roundup. It turns out the widespread use of Roundup has led to the evolution of far-tougher-to-eradicate strains of weeds. As a farmer interviewed for the article says, “This can change the whole farming industry if we can’t get a handle on it.”

Here’s a video of what the farmers of Evening Song Farm in Cuttingsville, Vermont, found when they returned to their farm after Hurricane Irene had passed through, causing Mill River to flood and wash away their vegetable fields. This is just one example of the many farms in Vermont that were destroyed in the storm.

Despite all of the destruction, there is good news on the way for Northeastern farmers whose livelihood was affected by Hurricane Irene. This Wall Street Journal article describes how the federal government is reimbursing Northeastern dairy farmers the full market value of the milk they had to abandon when Hurricane Irene prevented them from getting it to market.

On the other end of the natural disaster spectrum, wildfires are raging throughout Texas as a result of the ongoing drought. Images from the Statesman Photo and Multimedia Blog paint a grim picture of the current state of affairs in the state.

The USDA announced that they will ban the sale of ground beef tainted with six toxic strains of E. coli bacteria that are increasingly showing up as the cause of severe illness from food. Up until now, only one strain of E. coli was officially banned; these six additional strains in beef account for about 40,000 illnesses each year.

Eating for two! A Farm Aid staffer and new mom learns to eat again.

2011-09-13T16:14:00.008-04:00

I have this little cartoon character of an ear of corn saying “I’m in everything” taped on the wall in my office. I found it one day while doing research about corn ethanol and thought he was endearing. Coming from a background in agricultural policy and nutrition, I have a pretty good understanding of our modern food system. I get that corn is in A LOT of the food that we eat, as well as the historical and political reasons for why it got there and why it’s probably sticking around awhile. I’m also pretty familiar with the social, environmental and health reasons for why omnipresent corn in an increasingly processed food system may not be such a great thing for farmers and eaters alike. But these are BIG juicy topics, for another day.

My point today: When certain foods are in everything, and you can’t eat that food - stomachs start to growl!

I am recently a new mom. My darling little gal is almost 4 months old, and in that short life has had some serious stomach woes. She cries; we cry. She’s up all night; we’re up all night. It’s a routine that moms and dads of all types, but especially those of colicky children can relate to (and for that, I am truly sorry!). So, after trying every medicine, body therapy and feeding strategy in the book, I decided it was time to really start paying attention to what I eat.

The most common culprits of food intolerance for breastfed children turn out to be soy and dairy proteins. I agreed to a new soy- and dairy-free diet thinking dairy was going to be the tough one to give up. And it is hard...really, really hard. But oh boy, soy, now there’s a doozy! Soy, like corn, is just about in everything too. I didn’t think I ate that much processed food, but lo and behold almost every cracker, bread, frozen meal, cereal and pasta sauce I had in my kitchen had some highly processed version of soy or dairy snuck in there.

So what’s a starving mama to do?

I walked on down to the farmers market, and guess what? Although there were some beautiful cheeses and delicious looking baked goods, most everything was clearly recognizable as soy- and dairy-free! Turns out it’s hard to sneak soy lecithin or milk casein into fresh-picked carrots or kale, and that took the guessing out of that game.

The point of my little story: corn is good, soy is good and dairy is good too. Yes, I love all three, and I really cannot wait to have a scoop of ice cream again! But in an ever complex and processed food system, it can be borderline impossible to know what the heck you’re putting in your body when you get too removed from both the original product and the source. When you keep it wholesome and close to home, buying good healthy food from family farmers, restricted diets begin to feel not quite so restricting.

I'd love to hear from the moms out there who have gone through a similar experience--especially if you have some recipes to share!

Exceptional Drought across the South and Southwest

2011-09-12T13:34:00.006-04:00

As advocates for American family farmers, we hear from farmers and agencies across the US looking for assistance and to offer their help. Through these calls and our work, we have experienced various disasters and extreme weather events over the years. However, this year has been rather extreme.

The massive drought in the south is unprecedented. In July, nearly 12% of the U.S. was classified as being in the highest classification of drought, “exceptional.” According to the U.S. Drought Monitor, this has never happened in the monitor’s 12-year history. Most of the exceptional drought is in Texas (where wildfires are now raging as a result), Oklahoma and Georgia. Lower classified drought, yet still potentially devastating to family farmers, is prevalent in up to 59% of the country.

Drought wreaks havoc on family ranches. Pasturelands become ungrazeable. Ranchers have to cut into their winter reserved hay and other feed to supplement the unavailable pasture. Excessive supplemental feeding in summer and fall increases costs for winter boarding of livestock. As an added compounding factor, drought reduces the harvest of hay and other feed crops. So, ranchers are forced to sell down their herds or pay exorbitantly higher rates for feed that has to be shipped in from other states.

Hay lifts in Oklahoma are one solution that Farm Aid, the Teamsters, and local groups like Oklahoma Black Historical Farmers Project use to help family farmers hold on until the next rain. Click here for News9 coverage of last week’s haylift of 10 tons of hay. However, another solution we are working to promote is drought preparedness. Texas A&M conducts great drought workshops through their Cooperative Extension. Some of the solutions offered include a reduced herd size for a given pasture, choosing appropriate livestock breeds for the region and using pasture seed that is more resilient in droughts. In the past, we have also partnered with Holistic Management International (HMI), to help Texas farmers and ranchers learn HMI's whole-farm planning system that benefits the land, animals and people, and specifically how to plan for drought.

Preparedness is the best offense against natural disaster and other farming challenges. Our Farmer Resource Network can direct farmers to organizations in their area that can help farmers be prepared. If you are experiencing hardship now due to natural disaster, or know someone who is, please call our hotline (1-800-FARM-AID) to get referred to emergency programs in your area.

Farm Aid Music Monday, Starring Dave Matthews & Tim Reynolds

2011-09-12T12:33:00.002-04:00

This Farm Aid Music Monday has another song from Farm Aid 2011 in Kansas City. Here's Willie Nelson introducing fellow Farm Aid board member Dave Matthews, who then performs "Where Are You Going" with Tim Reynolds. Once again, if you've got a relatively modern computer, try watching this fullscreen in HD for the best quality.

Check out more videos on Farm Aid's YouTube channel.

Family farmers and the Teamsters come together to help drought-stricken farmers in Oklahoma

2011-09-09T11:10:00.004-04:00

Farm Aid and the Teamsters organized a second haylift for farmers and ranchers devastated by drought in Oklahoma to deliver much-needed resources donated by Wisconsin family farmers. The plan came together at the annual Farm Aid concert, held Saturday, Aug. 13, in Kansas City, Kan., where farmers shared stories of parched farmland and starved livestock. The first haylift was organized on August 25; this second delivery will happen this afternoon.

Wisconsin-based Family Farm Defenders put the call out for hay donations and farmers generously stepped up to donate tons of hay that can be used as feed for livestock. The hay will be delivered to the Oklahoma Black Historical Research Project, which is coordinating distribution. The entire state of Oklahoma is under a severe drought classification, with 70 percent of the state classified as under “exceptional” drought conditions, the worst rating. Due to the drought, farmers and ranchers have no pasture on which to graze their livestock and their crops have been scorched. Hay is difficult to come by and expensive, with the cost of transporting hay from non-drought states to the South being the largest expense.

The first hay delivery from Wisconsin was transported by two trucks donated by Shomotion, a live touring company that Farm Aid has worked with in the production of its annual concert. This second delivery of 10 tons of hay is made possible by Teamster members from across the Midwest. Teamsters Local Union 135 in Indianapolis, Ind.; the Ohio Conference of Teamsters; and Kansas City’s Joint Council 56 all donated their time and tractors for the haylift. The Teamsters have a long history of partnership with Farm Aid; Teamster drivers volunteer each year at the annual Farm Aid concert and Teamsters have donated trucks and drivers for prior haylifts.

Other areas of the U.S. have been drastically impacted by drought, and Farm Aid has received offers of hay from many generous farmers across the Midwest. If you would like to help cover transportation costs, or have transportation to make available, please contact Farm Aid at 1-800-FARM-AID or farmhelp@farmaid.org

Lauren's Farm and Food Roundup

2011-09-08T17:07:00.005-04:00

There are always emails flying around the Farm Aid office with links to thought-provoking websites and articles on food, farming, health, environmental issues and agricultural policy—and we want to share them with you! Every week I’ll gather up all of the latest informative, compelling, and quirky material that we stumble on in a “Farm and Food Roundup!”

September 3rd marked the final day of a 2-week sit-in front of the White House in protest of the Keystone XL tar sands pipeline. If approved, the pipeline would pump over one million barrels of "tar sands" oil from Canada to the USA every day and run right through the middle of family farms and the precious Ogallala Aquifer. On the final day of the sit-in, the demonstrators revealed that 618,428 people worldwide signed the “Stop the Tar Sands” petition to President Obama. Over the 2-week period, 1.252 participants were arrested.

Check out photos of the final demonstration day

Take a look at this cool graphic to see how large your backyard would need to be for you to fulfill all of your dietary needs from living off the land—it’s probably less than you’d think!

This Wall Street Journal article discusses how Monsanto Co. corn plants in Iowa are being wiped out by the rootworms that they were genetically modified to fend off. It examines the idea that if bugs develop resistances to genetic modifications, we may be doing more harm than good to our food supply.

Stunning and tragic photos of the Vermont flood damage in the aftermath of Hurricane Irene.

An interesting New York Times article about the pioneers of home economics class and how reviving the subject in schools could help to fight obesity.

Have you read any interesting farm and food news lately? Let me know!

Farmer Hero Friday: Sherri Harvel of Kansas City, Missouri

2011-09-02T12:04:00.000-04:00

Today's Farmer Hero Friday shines a spotlight on Sherri Harvel. She started Root Deep Urban Farm ten years ago in Kansas City, Missouri and provides fresh, organic produce to families in the area.

Sherri’s passion for working outside rather than in an office is what first drew her into farming. “When you are out there growing just kind of takes over you,” Sherri says. “It’s something you feel inside.”

Sherri explains the benefits of her farm to the neighborhood this way: “It turned a blighted area into a nice surprise. It has helped inspire other people in the neighborhood to grow food. It feeds my family and my CSA members and has definitely given me an appreciation for the people that grow our food.” Sherri has also made many friends at her weekly farmer’s markets. As she puts it, “I get hugs almost every market.” One of Sherri’s proudest accomplishments is inspiring other people to grow themselves.

Click here to read the rest of our profile of Sherri.

Meeting the Hardy Family at Farm Aid 2011

2011-09-01T17:40:00.002-04:00

The red-shirted Horizon Organic farmers always stand out in the crowd at Farm Aid concerts. It's wonderful to have these dairy farmers mingling with the many other kinds of farmers, especially in HOMEGROWN Village's FarmYard. Farmers definitely enjoy meeting each other and talking about their farms!

Concertgoers get to meet farmers, too! I was so pleased to be introduced to Henry and Theresa Hardy and their family from Farmington, Maine as the Horizon Organic Hope Award winners. The whole family—including their two Ashleys! (one is a daughter-in-law)— attended Farm Aid 2011 to claim their award. I know that the "twice-a-day" dedication to milking cows means that travel is a challenge, and it's terrific that Horizon Organic makes it possible for these farmers to enjoy the Farm Aid concert.

Considering the hundreds of excellent family farmers in the Horizon Organic pool, I am certain the Hardys run a truly impressive operation. I'm always fascinated by the complexity and beauty of an organic dairy farm. Since the Farm Aid office is here in New England, I hope I can go on a field trip sometime to their farm!

Here are Henry and Theresa showing off the Horizon Organic carton featuring their farm and admiring the cake that celebrates 20 years of Horizon Organic:

(Photo by Cathy McDermott-Tingle)

Farm Aid Music Monday, Starring Neil Young

2011-08-29T11:16:00.003-04:00

Farm Aid Music Monday has taken a break for a couple weeks, but now it's back with the first video from Farm Aid 2011 from Kansas City! You may have seen the concert in person or on our live webcast, but we'll be posting videos from the show to our YouTube channel over the coming weeks so you can relive your favorite moments. This is one of my favorite moments — Neil Young being introduced by fellow Farm Aid co-founder and board member John Mellencamp and then singing "Comes A Time" off the album of the same name from 1978. If you've got a relatively modern computer, try watching this fullscreen in HD, the quality is amazing!

As a little bonus, here's Neil performing the same song at Farm Aid II back in Austin, Texas on July 4, 1986. How time flies!

Check out more videos on Farm Aid's YouTube channel and see you in Kansas City!

Family farmers in Wisconsin help drought-stricken farmers in Oklahoma

2011-08-25T16:50:00.009-04:00

Held at the National Agricultural Hall of Fame in Bonner Springs, Kansas, on August 11 & 12, our National Meeting of Farm Advocates was, like our Farm Aid 20l1 concert the following day, a rousing success.

Organized and hosted by Farm Aid and the Rural Advancement Foundation International (RAFI-USA), the meeting attracted farm advocates, counselors, attorneys, disaster experts, social workers, state and federal officials and many others from all over the country. The larger purpose of this unprecedented meeting was to bring together a diverse array of established and upcoming farm advocates from all of the organizations Farm Aid works with to create a national farm advocates network through which training, recruitment and support of farm advocates might smoothly proceed. Farm advocates are our “front line troops” who work directly with farmers and ranchers who call or email the Farm Aid hotline seeking financial, legal, disaster and all other kinds of help.

Some of the Farm Advocates who attended the National Meeting

For the moment, one quickly told success story that resulted directly from the meeting: prior to the meeting’s very last session, an Oklahoma advocate named Willard Tillman appealed to the assembled group of nearly 100 advocates for hay for livestock belonging to limited resource farmers he works with in the Oklahoma City region. Immediately after Willard’s appeal, we from Farm Aid, Family Farm Defenders, the Federation of Southern Cooperatives/Land Assistance Fund and Rural Coalition put our heads together to organize what we call a hay lift as fast as possible. A haylift basically involves donation of hay from a region of country unaffected by drought to farmers in an area of drought so affected that there is no pasture of hay left to feed livestock. Twelve days later, the trucks were rolling.

As this morning, the first truckload of hay, donated by Wisconsin farmers, picked up and trucked by Shomotion, a company providing specialized transportation solutions for touring acts, arrived in drought-parched Oklahoma City. The second truck arrived this afternoon. Mr. Tillman is distributing the hay to farmers in need. He knows this is in fact a farmer-helping-farmer effort, and his farmer crew will “pay it forward” as soon as they possibly can.

It’s 105 degrees in Oklahoma City today. It’s been over 100 there for almost two straight months, and you can bet your bottom dollar that those Oklahoma farmers are sweating bullets as they unload the hay. But they now know that the National Farm Advocates Network (no formal title yet, but that sounds pretty good!) is up and running and this is the first of many coordinated efforts to help keep America’s farmers on the land.

If you'd like to be part of the effort to help family farmers affected by drought, please make a donation to Farm Aid today. If you have hay or transportation to donate, please contact farmhelp@farmaid.org or call 671-354-2922.

Here's a shot of Willie pitching in to help pull off a previous haylift organized by Farm Aid

Tour de Farms recap

2011-08-24T11:03:00.016-04:00

On Saturday, I joined about thirty riders on the 5th annual Boston Tour de Farms. It was a beautiful day for a ride, and after way too many hours of work in preparation for Farm Aid 2011, it was great to be on my bike for a leisurely ride to visit some of the Boston area’s farms.

Our first stop was Allandale Farm, Boston’s oldest working farm, started in 1765! Jim Buckle, Allandale’s farmer, told us about the history of the farm, what he and John Lee, the farm's general manager, have been up to to diversify the farm (Chickens! Cattle! Pigs!), and some of the challenges of farming in a city—-not to mention two cities, as Allandale straddles the Boston/Brookline line. Fueled up with Allandale’s tart Gravenstein apples, we got back on our bikes.

Jim Buckle tells us riders about the farm

Our next stop was Newton Community Farm, where we were met by Greg Maslowe, the farm manager. He told us about the farm, on two acres with just one of those acres in intense cultivation that yields a huge diversity of crops for CSA members, the honor system farm stand at the farm and local food pantries. When he said that this kind of intensive, diverse production centered where people live is the future of farming, it was easy to agree. We were treated to fresh-picked melons and a fresh cucumber salad. By this point, we were getting full!

Newton Community Farm

The third stop was at a site that is part of an innovative new farm started in 2008. Kate Canney, the founder of The Neighborhood Farm didn’t let not having her land stop her from growing! The Neighborhood Farm is a collection of market gardens in private yards in and around Needham, MA. Homeowners lend the farm a portion of their yard and Kate and her team grow vegetables, herbs and flowers. In exchange, the owners receive produce from the gardens during the growing season. Our host was extremely green—while he showed us Kate’s farm plot on his front lawn, he also showed us his own garden and his collection of solar panels, which produce more than enough energy for his entire house. As he put it, his energy meter runs backwards, putting power back into the grid!

Chickens and bike shoes

Our final farm stop was Brookwood Community Farm, where we were treated to lunch of heirloom tomato and cheese sandwiches. The founders of Brookwood petitioned the town of Milton to put farmland that was in conservation back into production. So far, Brookwood has been granted a lease to work four acres of the 160 in conservation, and just like the other farms on our ride, they use that land to best use, using organic methods to grow vegetables for their CSA members and local farmers markets. Brookwood has as part of its mission to produce and make good food accessible to low-income residents, and they helped found a farmers market in the Mattapan neighborhood of Boston, which we rode past on our way to our final stop.

Farmer Anna at Brookwood Community Farm

To cap off our ride, we finished at the Roslindale Village Main Streets Farmers’ Market, where we picked up produce from many of the farms we had just visited. The Neighborhood Farm has always impressed me with their variety, quality and farmers market display, but knowing the ingenuity and creativity that goes into that operation (not to mention the hard work of working as many as 20 different farm plots!), gives me that much more respect for Kate. So I made a beeline for her stand and purchased as many heirloom tomatoes as I could fit in my bike jersey pocket and rode for home intent on making my own farm-fresh salad for dinner. That evening, my friends and I enjoyed those tomatoes and I told them all how lucky we are to have such amazing farmers right in our own backyard!

Delicious!

Many thanks to our friends at Urban Adventours for their help in guiding the ride and fixing flats!

Lauren on her first Farm Aid concert!

2011-08-23T08:28:00.003-04:00

Last weekend was a weekend of “firsts” for me: my first visit to Kansas, my first farm advocates meeting, my first Farm Aid press event and my first time at a Farm Aid concert as both a spectator and Farm Aid intern. It was incredible to see all of the projects and ideas that have been brewing in the office in the past months converge into such a fluid series of events.

The Farm Advocates meeting at the National Agricultural Hall of Fame was the perfect precursor to the concert: those who have been defending farmers’ rights for years gathered under the watchful eye (at least in portrait form) of the institution’s most recent inductee—Willie Nelson himself. Although I didn’t get to attend the workshops, the advocates and Farm Aid staff who did seemed to come away from them energized. I think it must be invigorating for advocates to know that they are not alone in their fight for family farmers, and that their cause is more relevant than ever.

The Farm Advocates Meeting participants

In what seemed like no time at all, the weekend flipped from the quieter, more thoughtful advocates meeting to the frenzy of concert set-up. I watched the empty plaza outside of LIVESTRONG Sporting Park transform into a lively HOMEGROWN Village—even through the downpours everyone was happily hustling around in preparation, hauling banners and boxes up and down the stadium stairs all afternoon. We were all tired after the Friday night kickoff party, but the day ended on a high note, as most of the Farm Aid staff took the opportunity to watch Neil Young’s sound check. Hearing him sing “Heart of Gold” to a nearly empty 20,000- seat stadium was so powerful.

Neil Young at soundcheck on Friday Night

The next morning at the press event that kicks off concert day, each member of the panel spoke briefly but urgently about the importance of family farms to our nation’s economy, health and community. Being in that room was a two-sided experience. I felt the weight that the four Farm Aid founders’ words carried as a result of their fame, and simultaneously saw them as real people, just a group of old friends. When all the speakers, including Kansas farmers, had their say, it was suddenly concert time.

The Farm Aid Artists at the press event

Concert day was the best kind of insanity. People from all over the country poured into LIVESTRONG Sporting Park and were overwhelmingly impressed with the HOMEGROWN Village, the food, the music, and most importantly, the cause behind it all. The participation in our “Turnip the Heat” booth (at which concertgoers could contact their representatives about fair farm policies) was phenomenal, and seeing Neil Young signing a petition while he was touring the HOMEGROWN Village really struck a chord with everyone working to save family farmers not just on concert day, but every day.

Getting ready for a demonstration in the HOMEGROWN Village

With so many amazing goings-on at this year’s concert, I feel only slightly odd that I’ve made no mention of the music yet! Although I spent a lot of the day camping out in the makeshift Farm Aid office to blog, I had possibly the coolest live workday soundtrack of all time. Well, assuming that you can call a Farm Aid concert a work day—I’m not quite convinced that you can.

Farm Aid's next generation

**All photos by Cathy McDermott-Tingle.

Farm Aid Meets the President

2011-08-19T07:00:00.006-04:00

This Tuesday, Farm Aid had the distinct honor of joining the White House Rural Economic Forum in Peosta, Iowa. Attended by several Cabinet members and President Obama himself, this invitation-only event gathered farmers, rural business owners and organizations to discuss strategies that will spur economic growth in rural America.

Fresh off the heels of our Farm Aid concert in Kansas City, Kansas, so many thoughts crossed my mind as I drove through Iowa to attend the event.

I thought about the tiny town of Osceola, where I stopped for coffee. Despite the partisan politics that overwhelm Washington, there was little sense of divide in this town. Conversations revealed keen political awareness, sure, but also a shared concern for economic recovery, worry about things like post offices closing across the countryside and disappointment in political leaders bought out by corporate money.

I thought of the cornfields flanking the highway east from Des Moines. While the landscape wasn’t drought-stricken as parts of Kansas were, nor flooded like towns along the Missouri River, the corn stalks were lower than normal, hinting at ecological stresses on crops, and thus, on our family farmers.

I thought of the people heading to the Iowa State Fair as advertisements flooded the radio stations, boasting new attractions (the new red velvet funnel cake was a hit, apparently!) and sharing enthusiasm for the state’s agricultural heritage.

In so many ways, our annual Farm Aid concert combines all of this, as we join concertgoers in celebrating our family farmers, but also raise awareness and activism around the issues they face. The concert is a much-needed pause, where we honor the special population of Americans who feed us, while inspiring eaters to do their part to support family farmers and good food.

At the forum, I listened to President Obama’s opening remarks. He was hopeful about America’s ability to come back strong from the economic downturn and acknowledged that the hard work of recovery will occur in farm fields and Main Streets nationwide. Sitting next to Joel Greeno, a Wisconsin dairy farmer and outspoken farm activist, we commiserated that true recovery was impossible unless family farmers get the prices they deserve in the market.

Following the opening remarks, I joined a small breakout session on Ag Innovation and Energy, led by Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack. With others, I insisted that innovation will be squashed if a few corporate powers continue to dominate farming, that economic development is impossible if farmers don’t receive fair prices and if farmers and eaters who join the good food movement aren’t supported by federal policies. We stressed the importance of fair markets and the Administration’s role in enforcing fair competition for farmers old and new.

To our surprise, President Obama joined our conversation (and sat right across from me!). No matter one’s political beliefs, it’s always an honor (and a thrill!) to meet a President. I’ve had some beef with nearly every President during my lifetime, but I deeply respect the stress and responsibility an individual holding the office must endure. Personally, I was impressed by his depth of knowledge of the issues and his support for fairness in agriculture. The sentiments are more than welcome, of course, but I don’t need to tell you that action is what we really need. As the President himself said, it’s our job to keep our leaders on the hook and accountable.

In the meeting’s final moments, the President approached each of us. Shaking his hand, I smiled and said, “We gotta get you to another Farm Aid concert.” (Senator Barack Obama attended our 20th anniversary concert in Chicago in 2005). He perked up and smiled back warmly, saying, “Some of my best times have been at Farm Aid shows.” I couldn’t help but smile.

A nice punctuation for a whirlwind – but fulfilling – concert week. And yet, with so much work to be done and so much need in the countryside, there’s little time for pause. Onward!

Join us for the 5th Annual Tour de Farms in Boston

2011-08-18T11:12:00.004-04:00

If you Boston-area folks weren't able to join us in Kansas for Farm Aid 2011 last weekend, now's your chance to get a taste of Farm Aid! Join us Saturday August 20th for the 5th Annual Tour de Farms ride.

The goal of the ride is to promote awareness for sustainable agriculture and our local farms. Riders will meet at Franklin Park in Boston at 9AM and travel out through Brookline, Newton, Needham and the Blue Hills visiting Allandale Farm, Newton Community Farm, and a Neighborhood Farm site before arriving at Brookwood Community Farm. At Brookwood Community Farm we'll take an extended break from riding to explore the farm and have a delicious locally-grown lunch. After lunch, the ride will continue on to Roslindale Village Main Street Farmers' Market, where riders can purchase fresh fruits, vegetables and meat for themselves (we'll have a truck to transport your goodies back to our starting place, or bring your own panniers).

The tour is about 40 miles long and will travel at a pace of about 10-15 miles per hour. Our friends at Urban Adventours will lead the ride and provide support all along the way. The tour costs $35, bikes not provided. If you need to rent a road bike for the tour, Urban Adventours offers a special rate of $60 for both a bike rental and delivery (regularly $75 plus $15 for delivery).

There are limited spots available for this ride so reserve one now! Book online, give Urban Adventours a call at 800-979-3370, or visit their shop. Bring a bike, your friends and your appetite for good food from local farms!

The annual Tour de Farms is a true celebration of local food, healthy bodies and good fun. Discover the farms and meet the farmers who are feeding us good food, right in our own backyards!

Family Farmers: The Seba Family is Homegrown!

2011-08-13T23:14:00.012-04:00

Today, as their t-shirt slogan requested, I asked the Seba family about their blackberry patch. Renee and Charlie started their 2-acre blackberry farm, Mule Barn Berries, in Lathrop, Mo. 2 years ago to get their kids outside more and to teach them the value of hard work and managing money. And Hailey, 12, Regan, 10, Trevor, 8, and Elise, 6, couldn’t be more thrilled. Hailey says, “It’s a really cool learning experience. I could give you a speech off the top of my head about blackberries!”

The kids worked at the Farm Aid Youthmarket Farm Stand today, selling berries from their farm, roasted corn and apples. The family picked 460 half-pint containers of berries to sell at Farm Aid and at their state fair going on for the next 2 weeks. It took them about 10 hours!

Charlie grew up on a hog farm and Renee has always lived in the country, so moving to town was a big adjustment. Their solution for staying in touch with their roots and getting their kids involved was to plant blackberries in their yard.

Planting the patch was no small feat, but family and friends made it possible. Uncles, grandparents, and neighbors all came to help out while the family got the berry patch up and running. As Hailey put it, her dad and uncles would “trade Saturdays.” They would come over for a few Saturdays to help dig irrigation trenches in the spring, and then after the harvest when they weren’t as busy, Charlie would go to help them out with their projects.

The kids’ grandparents were also prepared to help. After 6 weeks of heavy harvest, the laundry really starts to pile up! “Grandma came to set it straight,” Regan said. “She did laundry for 4 days!” Elise said, "I was there, and it was a mess!”

With only a few weeks left of berry-picking, the Seba family has almost made it through their first growing season. And reflecting back on their first harvest, Renee says “We’ve experienced it. All hands on deck. Seriously.”

Renee says that their goal on the farm is sustainability, and they want to be profitable while preserving the land. They use as little pesticides and herbicides as possible. The family weeds the two miles of blackberry bushes by hand, and this year they only sprayed to prevent an influx of stinkbugs from destroying the crop.

The family has mapped out a 10-year plan for their farm, which they hope will eventually include a hillside of raspberry plants and a building for storage and selling. Renee says that operating the farm is still a little overwhelming, but she’s very happy with the positive impact it has had on the kids. And the influence of their farm has already started to spread. A neighbor bought two rows of blackberry plants from the family, and is raising them to get an early start on his high school project for Future Farmers of America (FFA).

Despite all of the good that has come out of starting their farm, the Seba's face the same challenges as so many other farmers. This year, they planted sweet corn, peppers and tomatoes in addition to blackberries. The additional crops didn’t fare very well because they were affected by the after-spray from a surrounding 6,000-acre corn farm. “We’re scared whenever the over-sprayer goes by,” says Renee. “The blackberries are very sensitive to pesticides and herbicides.”

The Sebas' farm is located in historical Clinton County, which was a mule capital in the 20th century and was once home to the largest barn in the world. During World War I, soldiers got mules from the barn, and watered the animals at the 60-acre lake that was built nearby.

Renee says she hopes that the farm will teach the kids about hard work, as there are not a lot of opportunities for summer jobs in their area. She also hopes the farm will eventually provide a second income for their household. But overall she says that even if they never make much money, they’ve seen such a change in the kids—-they’ve gained self-confidence, learned to interact with people and gained experience managing money. “We’re very pleased,” she says, “We’re already very pleased.”

And she has every reason to be pleased. The kids are some of the most polite and well spoken I’ve ever met, and they have nothing but good things to say about being young farmers. Trevor says, “We’ve learned a lot. And it’s a lot of hard work!” And Regan adds, “It also shows us you can start a small business by yourself. You can!” Perhaps we’ve got some farm advocates of the future on our hands!

Farm Aid sure is tasty!

2011-08-13T21:33:00.010-04:00

Catering at the Farm Aid concert is pretty incredible—ask any of the roadies and they'll tell you the other shows they work don't even come close to being as tasty as Farm Aid. But I skipped the catering tent tonight in favor of HOMEGROWN Concessions, our family-farm sourced food. This year, our HOMEGROWN Concessions is the best yet!

I was just tucking into a brat (or sausage) when I saw a couple wearing Paradise Locker Meats t-shirts. Their shirts piqued my curiosity so course I introduced myself to Louis and Amy. Turns out Louis' family operates Paradise Locker Meats in nearby Trimble, Missouri, and the brat I was eating came from their operation! Talk about Know your Farmer, Know your Food!

Patchwork Family Farms, as always, served up family farm pork all day long! Even though I had a brat, I got into the LONG line for the most amazing pork chop sandwich you'll ever have! It did not disappoint, and ordering from the Missouri farmers that make up Patchwork Family Farms, in their red STOP FACTORY FARMS tshirts is always a pleasure. In line, I chatted with people around me, many of whom were coming back to have their SECOND taste of Patchwork pork!

Finally, for dessert (and you have to realize that Farm Aid Day only comes once a year--normally I don't eat this much!) I shared an organic funnel cake with a friend.

And there's so much delicious family farm food that I missed! If you chose to have a hamburger at Farm Aid 2011, you'll be pleased to know that the beef was raised right here in Kansas. It was supplied by Ranch Direct Foods, founded by Mike Callicrate who spoke at our press event about the need for fair markets for family ranchers and farmers. And that bun your burger came on? It was made with flour made from organic Kansas wheat. Sonya Dagovitz, our Culinary Director, worked with three local Kansas City companies to make that bread rise: Heartland Mill, Roma Bakery and Farm to Table. There was locally grown corn, roasted to perfection. The Farm Aid Youthmarket Farm Stand, staffed by our friends Tom and Olivia from New York's GrowNYC and youth volunteers from KC's Front Porch Alliance, sold Missouri peaches and pecans, local honey, heirloom tomatoes and the season's first tart apples. And did I mention the organic corndogs?

As Dave Matthews came to the stage, all of us here at Farm Aid rose to our feet with full bellies and happy smiles. Farm Aid Day is the best day and boy do we eat well!

Out on the Plaza & Homegrown Village Fun!

2011-08-13T19:42:00.005-04:00

“My name is Neil Young and I want a Fair Farm Bill because real money should go to real farmers.” Neil Young struck a pose with the message he wrote for Food and Water Watch’s photo petition in the HOMEGROWN Village today, creating quite a stir on the plaza. The village has been bustling all day with organizations presenting interactive games and activities on food and farm issues.

Susan Marshall of the Harvesters Community Food Network based in Kansas City, Mo. said, “This is the most impressive food-related display I’ve ever seen, and I work at a lot of non-profit events. There’s so much great information here.”

The Harvesters is a network of food banks that collects food and related household products and distributes them to more than 66,000 individuals nationwide each week. In their activity, “The Hunger Game,” each participant was given a profile of a real person living in a state of food insecurity. They then received cards outlining events that further jeopardize their food security such as not making it to the food bank in time or having to pay an unexpected bill in place of groceries.

The Kansas Farmer’s Union focused their activity on the financial difficulties of a different sector of the food chain: the farmers. They displayed the retail prices of common food items like a loaf of bread or a dozen eggs and asked participants to guess how much profit the farmer makes from each of the items. People were shocked to find out that of the $3.89 they pay for a loaf of bread, the farmer only receives $0.19. As the game shows, farmers are really struggling to turn a profit because large corporations control the prices.

The HOMEGROWN tent was another hopping place to be today, with demonstrations on how to make your own baby food, composting and canning. When I walked by there was purple cabbage flying through the air as Nate Poell showed off his expert sauerkraut-making skills. Rebecca Pidgeon and Jason Mraz also stopped by to talk about their take on good farming, good food, and good music.

One woman lounging on some hay bales in the shade told me she was having a blast at her first Farm Aid concert and she hadn’t even heard any music yet. She said, “I’m so impressed at how well-organized everything is out here (in the Homegrown Village). I love how laid-back everything is.”

While exploring the village, I saw a bunch of concertgoers strolling around while gnawing on roasted corn and munching on apples. Naturally I followed the trail of people to the source: the Farm Aid Youthmarket Farm Stand! Teens from GrowNYC were selling the snacks and the line was keeping them busy all afternoon.

My attention was also drawn to some photos hung around the New Roots for Refugees booth, and I stopped in to find out more. The beautiful photographs were of refugees who have been permanently relocated to the United States after fleeing conflict in their home country. They work on a training farm as part of a 4-year program involving weekly workshops on farming and English classes. As time goes on, the refugees must become more and more self-sufficient, buying their own seeds and funding their own transportation to the farm. At the end of the program New Root helps them find their own land to farm, sending them off with confidence to start a new and successful life.

I also ran into Jerry Vogler, an organic cotton farmer who grows for Anvil, the maker of this year’s Farm Aid t-shirts! He has a 750-acre operation in Texas and has been certified organic for 19 years. Forty percent of his cotton goes to Anvil, and he says they just can’t get enough. Anvil’s goal is to double cotton production in the United States, but Jerry says it’s been tough trying to find new farmers to take on the challenge. For a lot of farmers, going through the process to become certified organic is just too daunting—especially in today’s unpredictable farming industry.

Talking to Jerry about the troubles of cotton farmers prompted me to check out the progress of Farm Aid’s “Turnip the Heat” booth. Tons of people signed on to notify the government that family farmers and concerned consumers won’t be ignored. Great job Farm Aid-ers!

Farm Aid 2011 Press Event

2011-08-13T15:38:00.005-04:00

Jim Hightower, national radio commentator and self-proclaimed populist, spoke for us all when he said, “I’m happier than a flea at a dog show to be here.”

Sound checks are done, the Homegrown Village is alive with activity, and concertgoers are revved up after the press event for a day of music with a purpose.

At 11 a.m. a 10-person panel including Willie Nelson, John Mellencamp, Neil Young and Dave Matthews addressed the media and reminded us all of the historic and current importance of keeping American soil in the hands of family farmers.

The meeting began with Missouri farmer and advocate, Roger Allison, introducing Willie before 2009 Farm Broadcaster of year, Ken Root, inducted him into the Agricultural Hall of Fame. The first Farm Aid concert came after 5 years of Ken reporting about the despair of American farmers during the 1980s farm crisis. He pointed out that hundreds of individuals have been nominated for the honor, but Willie is only the 38th person to be inducted since Dwight D. Eisenhower chartered the Hall of Fame in 1960. Ken applauded Willie for his creative approach to aiding American farmers through the Farm Aid concert, and also cited his work advocating to achieve fair farm policies, end discrimination against farmers, and overhaul farm loan accessibility. Upon receiving the award Willie gestured to his fellow board members and said, “I gladly accept this as long as I can share it with you good guys.”

The press event continued with each panelist discussing what needs to happen for American agriculture to remain strong and vital. Between lots of jokes and Dave Matthews’ hilarious demonstration of the sound a chicken makes when laying an egg, the group consensus seemed to be that we must call for change—and that we cannot run the risk of being complacent while change is happening.

Neil Young warned against turning a blind eye towards the influx of genetically modified products entering our food system. He said, “As we modify and modify to protect the crops, we become more and vulnerable. This happens over years and years and we just don’t notice it.”

John Mellencamp touched on the same idea, saying, “One of these days we’re going to wake up and not even recognize this place. Not recognize the place we grew up.”

Neil also said that we don’t have time to bicker about where the proof lies with issues like climate change and genetically modified foods. He said, “It’s not about ‘Are they right?’ It’s about ‘What are we going to do if they’re not right?’”

Neil ended by saying that now is the time to mobilize the next generation of farmers. “Farm aid needs new blood. We need to educate kids in school that being a farmer is really good … We need to stay together. Lets go forward and keep our food clean and pure and grow it together.”

Dave Matthews spoke hopefully about the prospect of youth involvement in farming. He purchased land in Virginia to prevent it from being developed, and started a program for disadvantaged teens to work the land. He spoke with immense enthusiasm about how inspiring it is to see the youth so excited about working with the earth.

Willie remained largely quiet through the event, but listened intently to all of the speakers. Without exception, he turned his squinty eyes and warm smile on any member of the audience that a fellow panelist recognized.

Other panelists included Mike Callicrate, owner of Ranch Foods Direct in Colorado Springs, Col. and creator of the mobile meat processing unit; Roger Allison, founder of the Missouri Crisis Center; Diana Endicott, founder of Good Natured Family Farms (an alliance of more than 100 farms that support each other in using sustainable practices); Katherine Kelly, farmer and founder of Cultivate Kansas City; and Carolyn Mugar, executive director of Farm Aid.

It was great to see so many familiar people at the press event who also attended the farm advocates meeting, volunteered at concert set-up, or have been coming out to Farm Aid concerts for years and years. But the panelists stressed that it is imperative that we don’t get complacent in seeing those same faces all the time. We need to grow the Farm Aid force and make our messages heard. Jim Hightower said it best again when he quoted Mary Elizabeth Lease’s charge for Kansas farmers to fight monopolies and corporate control: “Raise less corn and more hell!”

Farm Aid 2011 Schedule

2011-08-12T12:18:00.003-04:00

Here in Kansas City at LIVESTRONG Sporting Park the last details for tomorrow's concert are coming into place. I managed to secure the schedule for this year's show, so I wanted to share it with everyone. Please be aware that it's definitely still subject to change!

Between 1pm and 3
Willie Nelson welcomes everyone to Farm Aid!
Blackwood Quartet
John Trudell
Hearts of Darkness
Rebecca Pidgeon
Ray Price

Between 3 and 4
Robert Francis
Billy Joe Shaver

Between 4 and 6
Will Dailey & the Rivals
Lukas Nelson & Promise of the Real
Jakob Dylan

Between 6 and 7:15
Jamey Johnson
Jason Mraz

Between 7:15 and 11-ish
Dave Matthews and Tim Reynolds
John Mellencamp
Neil Young
Willie Nelson

Doors open at noon and be sure to check out the policies for LIVESTRONG Sporting Park on our Venue Information page.

Please come for the whole day — you won't want to miss any of the generous artists who have donated all the expenses for their travel and performances, and to see the unique on-stage collaborations that happen so often between artists at Farm Aid.

Remember to tune into the live webcast starting at 5pm Central on FarmAid.org. And if you're on Twitter, use the hashtag #FarmAid11 to share your experiences!

Will Dailey, The Concert and Inspiring Appreciation for Family Farmers

2011-08-11T21:30:00.005-04:00

One thing that's really rewarding about the Farm Aid experience is seeing how a concert can do more and be more than just about the music. Seeing the spark go off in someone's mind about the importance of family farmers after they meet a farmer at the show, or eat the HOMEGROWN concessions we serve is really inspiring. It extends to watching how the musicians themselves react before, during and after the show.

Will Dailey's played at Farm Aid twice before, and will play again on Saturday with The Rivals, but this video shows him in Kentucky on his Road to Farm Aid Tour. As he makes his way to Kansas City, he's been inviting farm groups to his shows and bringing a little of the Farm Aid experience to more cities. Listen to his thoughtful discussion here with Beth Nolte from the Community Farm Alliance, and I think you'll agree that he's a perfect artist to spread the Farm Aid message across the country.

Take a Bite of Farm Aid!

2011-08-09T22:29:00.005-04:00

We could all use some good news, right about now, couldn’t we? Things are pretty tough out there. While we have a serious message about what family farmers are up against, the truth is Farm Aid is also a celebration. It’s a celebration of the value of family farmers (and their values!) and the solutions they represent for us in terms of our economy, our environment and our health. It’s also about the inspiration family farmers represent and the deeper connection they can help us make every time we eat. And as Willie has said, “We all eat!”

The Farm Aid concert is a chance for us to shine a spotlight on these people who work every day to put good food on our tables. Farm Aid is a way for all of us to meet our farmers, understand the heart and soul they put into their work, the care they have for the land and for our food, and the ways they’re helping to build and strengthen local economies and communities. At Farm Aid folks can shake the calloused hand of a farmer--or in the case of the new young farmers coming on the land, the not-yet-calloused hand! They can meet farmers who have returned from war to farm—trading swords for plowshares. Concertgoers can put their hands into the good dirt that farmers grow—yes, grow—because most soil in this country needs loving care to grow good food, and our farmers are giving that care.

You know, in the divisive world we’re in right now, isn’t it refreshing to step away from all that and rejoice in a basic truth: that good care creates good food that sustains us all? That connection--it's huge! And to see it happen at the Farm Aid concert is a beautiful thing; this being my ninth concert, I've seen alot of it. We’ve got this amazing lineup of artists--Willie Nelson, Neil Young, John Mellencamp, Dave Matthews… and on and on--and a lot of folks come out to see the show, to enjoy the music. But we don’t just let them do that. NO! They get the full-on Farm Aid experience, complete with a little dirt under their fingernails.

They visit our HOMEGROWN Village and get inspired by farmers, they meet city-dwellers making a living from a quarter acre plot downtown, they learn how to plant their own seeds, and then they imagine the bumper crop of tomatoes they’ll have next year as they learn how to preserve the harvest. The conversion is complete when they taste our HOMEGROWN concessions—a BBQ sandwich made with all natural, family farm pork 129 miles down the road from here and a roll baked from Kansas grown wheat, with a sunkissed Missouri peach for dessert.

And that’s it--the next weekend they’re at their local farmers market or they’re looking up their local farmers online. And they’re beginning to understand how supporting our farmers keeps local farms in our regions, and keeps local dollars there too, where they circulate 2-7 times more than they would had they shopped at the national chain store with its headquarters (and profit center) who knows where! It makes us all richer, and I'm not just talking about dollars.

Sadly, in our crazy lives, we don’t think about these things that often. We’re running from here to there, stuffing whatever convenient food in our mouths without considering what’s in it, who made it, under what conditions, who gets paid what, and what it’s doing to our natural resources, our health, our economy. But if we slow down just a little and begin to think about maybe even just one of those facets—after all, if our body is our temple, what is our food? Shouldn’t we think about it just a little? Well, when we do think about it, what joy it can give us. And what good we can do.

Today, when so much seems out of our control, more and more people are taking power back through the decisions they can make about their food. The movement is spreading more and more each day. And, man, it tastes good!

The White House Tells Farm Aid: We Heard You Loud and Clear

2011-08-09T09:24:00.000-04:00

With drought, flooding, increasing production costs and the corporate stranglehold over our food and farm system, it’s a tough time to be a family farmer. But it’s a promising sign that our government wants to help them a bit. A few weeks ago, Farm Aid traveled to Washington D.C. to meet with key White House staff and the newly-formed White House Rural Council—a critical group of economic and policy advisors to the President that also includes staff from the U.S. Treasury, U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) and other government agencies.

As Farm Aid’s representative, I joined the National Family Farm Coalition, Food & Water Watch, the Rural Advancement Foundation International-USA and the Rural Coalition for our first meeting to discuss the barriers to credit that farmers are facing in light of the economic downturn. We shared the findings of our Don’t Bank On It report, a national survey of farm credit counselors that reveals giant gaps in credit availability for our nation’s farmers. The point was to underscore that (despite what big banks may say) the financial situation for many farmers is dire and isn’t getting the attention it deserves. We also touched on broader issues related to rural investment and the role of government in spurring economic development in the countryside. I made sure to point out that the family farm is a unique business--one that requires special attention and is critical to our nation’s economy. As Willie always says, “Family farmers are the backbone of our nation. When family farmers thrive, Main Streets thrive.”

The next day, Farm Aid was among several food and farm organizations to meet with White House staff about the GIPSA rule. This proposed rule—issued by the USDA—is the most important piece of farm policy to emerge in decades, one that will protect farmers and ranchers who raise livestock from corporate abuse. Perhaps not surprisingly, corporate meatpackers and poultry processors have put their lobbying dollars to use, using all sorts of antics to delay the USDA process and even pressuring the U.S. House of Representatives to strip funding for implementation of the rule.

But those of working for fair markets haven’t given up! Perhaps the most satisfying moment of the trip was hearing a senior White House advisor acknowledge our weeklong phone campaign (which so many of you participated in!) to urge President Obama to support the GIPSA rule. His words?

“The White House heard you loud and clear.”

That’s great to hear. But it’s not enough—we need to make more noise! Please join us in demanding the U.S. Senate to protect the GIPSA rule. Take action with Farm Aid and tell your senator to support GIPSA on our website.

If these meetings showed me anything, it’s that the biggest threat to family farmers is time. Timely credit is always crucial to family farmers as they take out loans to buy seeds, fertilizer and equipment to plant their crops or maintain their herds. But time is also crucial as they struggle to grow our food in an increasingly concentrated, anticompetitive and corporate-dominated market. With corporations making it harder and harder for family farmers to make a living, we’re losing more and more of them every day. So help us put the pressure on and keep America’s family farmers growing!

A Road to Farm Aid Update from Will Dailey

2011-08-08T14:19:00.006-04:00

We had an amazing show in Philly last night (check out a video below). Thanks to everyone who came out and a special thank you to Pennsylvania Association for Sustainable Agriculture (PASA). We are in a hotel somewhere between Philly and Vienna, VA. Four days of being on the road is really driving home the importance of our family farms and access to fresh food. Why? For miles in each direction of where we are there are at least 2 of every fast food chain, strip malls and sprawl. It's nearly impossible to find good food with quality ingredients.

If anyone knows about any farm stands, farm fresh restaurants in Vienna, VA. Let us know!

We have a cooler for now and we hope to see you out there. If you have any fresh tomatoes or apples please bring them. We're starving for real food.

Love Will Dailey & The Rivals

Farm Aid Music Monday

2011-08-08T12:29:00.004-04:00

For this Farm Aid Music Monday, I thought I'd post one video from each of our four artist board members: Willie Nelson, Neil Young, John Mellencamp and Dave Matthews. They've worked to keep family farmers on the land since the very first Farm Aid back in 1985 and their mission continues this weekend at Farm Aid 2011. We hope to see you at the LIVESTRONG Sporting Park in Kansas City on Saturday. But if you can't make it, visit our website to experience Farm Aid with our live webcast starting at 5pm Central!

Willie Nelson performing "Whiskey River" from Farm Aid 2001:

Neil Young performing "Down By the River" from Farm Aid 2010:

John Mellencamp performing "Rain on the Scarecrow" from Farm Aid 1985:

Dave Matthews with Tim Reynolds performing "The Dreaming Tree" from Farm Aid 2007:

Check out more videos on Farm Aid's YouTube channel and see you in Kansas City!

The Road to Farm Aid has begun

2011-08-07T18:53:00.005-04:00

The Road to Farm Aid (RTFA)is a musical road show featuring singer/songwriter Will Dailey, who will be performing at clubs and farms along the way to and from his performance at Farm Aid 2011.

Will Dailey and his band The Rivals will help raise awareness for Farm Aid's mission to keep family farmers on their land in order to guarantee an agricultural system that ensures farmers a fair living, strengthens our communities, protects our natural resources and delivers good food to all. At each event, Farm Aid's partners in the region will highlight the work they are doing to support family farm-centered food systems. Dailey and his band will also be offering free and discounted tickets to farmers.

Here's Will's first update from the road:

The Road To Farm Aid has begun. We are on our way to Philly to play the World Cafe Live. Three dates into our tour, we are currently two hours late for load-in in Philly thanks to one van/trailer switch-out. Nice to have one melt-down under our belts. I'd call that smooth so far.

The tour started in Burlington VT, Northampton MA and then Naukabout festival last night. Today however is the first RTFA event. We will be joined at the club by PASA (Pennsylvania Association of Sustainable Agriculture)- They'll be letting everyone know about their efforts in the region.

And us? We'll be your entertainment and there to remind everyone that the even though the 26th Farm Aid is in Kansas City this year, the road farm aid reaches every corner of our country.

Will Dailey & the Rivals Are on the Road to Farm Aid!

2011-08-04T11:16:00.006-04:00

The Road to Farm Aid is a musical road show that two-time Farm Aid artist Will Dailey created to raise awareness for Farm Aid’s mission to keep family farmers on the land. A portion of the proceeds from each show will go directly to Farm Aid. We hope you can join Will Dailey & the Rivals when they come to your area.

Farm Aid's partners in each region will highlight the work they are doing to support family farm-centered food systems. You will be able to meet the folks in your area who work on behalf of family farmers and eaters like you! Will and the band will be posting to our blog from the road about their experiences. You'll also find Farm Aid literature and merchandise available at each show. Tickets are available now!

Click here for information on the Road to Farm Aid and when Will Dailey will be in your town.

About Will Dailey: Will Dailey is an acclaimed recording and performing artist, who is a two-time winner of a Boston Music Award for Best Singer/Songwriter. Dailey has released two full-length albums (Back Flipping Forward and Torrent) through CBS Records and his music has been featured on over 50 TV programs and films. He has appeared on stage with Neil Young, Dave Matthews, Willie Nelson and John Mellencamp at two Farm Aid concerts, and recently completed work on a Stephen King/John Mellencamp project produced by T Bone Burnett. After seeing Will Dailey in concert, the New York Post’s Dan Aquilante favorably contrasted him with the performers on American Idol, writing, “Forget the last five months of force-fed artificial pop music on TV that just crowned a king (who I'm betting will be forgotten as quickly as he was created) – Will Dailey is the real deal."

We at Farm Aid agree! Not only do we love the music of Will Dailey & the Rivals, but they're committed Farm Aid supporters and friends.

Ride the Boston-area Tour de Farms August 20th

2011-08-03T10:27:00.002-04:00

All the excitement of the Tour de France without the gelatinous protein bars and fifty bike pile-ups!

On Saturday, August 20th, Farm Aid and Urban AdvenTours will host the 5th annual Tour de Farms cycling event to raise awareness and appreciation for our local farms. About 60 to 80 riders will depart from Franklin Park and pedal through Brookline, Newton, Needham and the Blue Hills area, visiting Allandale Farm, Newton Community Farm, The Neighborhood Farm and Brookwood Community Farm. At each farm stop riders will learn about the farm and at the last stop everyone will be able to hop off their bikes to explore the farm before having a light lunch featuring fresh produce grown on-site. They’ll then have the opportunity to shop at the Roslindale Village Main Street Farmers’ Market for produce to take home.

Allandale Farm is Boston’s last working farm, and specializes in sustainably grown produce. They market a majority of their produce independently, but also supply some to Whole Foods markets in Brighton and Cambridge, and to local restaurants. Their field crops are Certified Naturally Grown using organic methods. Allandale’s specialties include seasonal cut flowers, hardy chrysanthemums, pumpkins, fresh native turkeys and Christmas trees.

Newton Community Farm is a non-profit community farm (and Newton’s last working farm) located on the historic Angino farmstead. They provide locally-grown produce to the community through their CSA, their farm stand, and Newton Farmers’ Markets. They also teach the public about the sustainable use of land and other natural resources through hands-on classes, workshops, and drop-in farm hours. A portion of the food grown on the farm is donated to people in need through the Newton Food Pantry.

The Neighborhood Farm is a collection of 9 gardens in and around Needham, totaling about ¾ of an acre. The lack of undeveloped, reasonably priced land in the Boston suburbs forced the farm’s founders to think about farming in a different way. Inspired by the victory gardens of WWII, they felt that many market gardens might be the most practical way to bring a new “farm” to the suburbs.

Brookwood Community Farm is a working organic farm and education center located in Milton and Canton. The farm is dedicated to preserving historic farmland through sustainable agricultural production that improves access to healthy, affordable fruits and vegetables in urban communities. The farm operates a CSA, sells produce at local farmers markets and provides on-farm employment, and educational and volunteer opportunities to members of the surrounding communities.

The Tour de Farms will be a great ride for local agriculture and sustainable farming. The pacing of the ride will be of a moderate road ride of about 10-15 miles per hour covering 35-40 miles. But have no fear—the thought of delicious local food and the scenic route will make the miles fly by! Urban AdvenTours guides will lead the ride and provide discounted bike rentals on the day of the tour. The ride will begin at 9a.m. and end between 12:15 and 12:30. Tickets are $35 and registration is available online at www.urbanadventours.com or over the phone at 617-670-0637.

We hope you'll join us for an exploration of our local Boston-area farms and their bounty!

Willie Nelson To Enter the Agricultural Hall of Fame

2011-08-01T18:05:00.010-04:00

In regard to the struggle of American family farmers, Willie Nelson has always said, “If you eat, you’re involved.” Similarly, the Agricultural Hall of Fame finds its foundation in the idea that “Agriculture touches the lives of every living person.” So it came as little surprise when the institution announced on July 21st that Willie would be inducted as the latest outstanding contributor to the success of American agriculture.

The National Agricultural Center and Hall of Fame was issued a rare federal charter by the act of the 86th Congress to serve as the national museum of agriculture and to honor the American farmer. Given Willie’s commitment to family farmers, it makes perfect sense that Willie is part of that legacy! His induction ceremony will be held on August 13th in Kansas City, Kansas, before the start of Farm Aid 2011, the annual Farm Aid concert and the centerpiece of Willie’s approach to saving small American farms.

Willie grew up in Abbott, Texas, where he picked cotton and corn, baled hay, and gained respect and admiration for family farmers and the value of hard work. Willie founded Farm Aid on those principles in 1985, pledging to raise awareness about the loss of family farms and to raise funds to keep farmers on their land. Over the past 26 years, Farm Aid has raised more than $39 million to promote family farm agriculture. Beyond raising money, Willie has also put the family farmer center stage, raising awareness about the crucial need to have family farmers on the land, for good food, our health and a strong economy. By strengthening the voices of family farmers, Willie and Farm Aid ensure that they will continue to thrive and nourish our country for years to come.

Upon being inducted into the Agricultural Hall of Fame, Willie will join the ranks of several household names in addition to a number of understated agricultural pioneers. George Washington was inducted for his innovations in fertilization and soil erosion prevention on his 12,000-acre plantation, Mount Vernon. Abraham Lincoln enacted legislation that allocated land for the establishment of agricultural colleges and homesteading communities that would help to settle the nation. John Deere was inducted for his role in developing a durable steel plow that could turn the tough soils of the Midwest, and Eli Whitney for his invention of the cotton gin. Squanto was another inductee, honored for helping the starving Pilgrims to survive by teaching them to fish and plant corn using fish as fertilizer.

Perhaps less familiar figures, Arthur Capper and Andrew Volstead were both inducted in 1984 for their sponsorship of the Capper-Volstead Act of 1922. The Act guaranteed the rights of farmers to organize and operate cooperatives without fear of governmental anti-trust backlash. Luther Burbank is another highly influential inductee, as he developed over 800 plant hybrids and crossbreeds, giving us delicious varieties of peaches, plums, and blackberries.

All of us staff here at Farm Aid are so happy that Willie has been recognized with this award. It couldn’t have happened to a more vocal, committed supporter of family farmers (though, of course we’d love to see John Mellencamp, Neil Young and Dave Matthews inducted next!).

Congratulations, Willie!

Farm Aid Music Monday, Starring Emmylou Harris

2011-08-01T11:48:00.002-04:00

Emmylou Harris has played at several Farm Aid concerts over the years, including at the very first one back in 1985. Today's Farm Aid Music Monday post is from a little more recent, when she played at the Germain Amphitheater in Columbus, Ohio on September 7, at Farm Aid 2003. Here, watch her perform "Pancho and Lefty," a song originally written by Townes Van Zandt in 1972 and later covered by both Emmylou Harris in 1977 and again in 1983 by Merle Haggard and Willie Nelson.

You can get more of this performance and others from the 2003 concert on DVD: click here. And check out more videos on Farm Aid's YouTube channel.

In the Thick of Concert Season at Farm Aid!

2011-07-26T09:36:00.000-04:00

With the Kansas City concert less than a month away, you might expect the Farm Aid staff to be a bunch of heavily caffeinated, sleep-deprived zombies wielding forkfuls of organic arugula. And while there have been conversations that suggest heightened stress levels (“I had my first concert nightmare last night!”), details are slowly falling into place—no doubt with the help of ice cream breaks and laps around the office on either of the two resident Razor scooters.

So what exactly is everyone up to at the Farm Aid office? In short, A LOT. When anybody here mentions “the concert,” what they’re really referring to is five days jam-packed with events that culminate in the music portion featuring our four board members: Willie, John, Neil and Dave, and all the additional artists donating their time and talent for family farmers. The concert isn’t just about raising money, it’s also about informing people about good food and good farming. And every year the Farm Aid staff is adapting more and more of the concert experience into opportunities to keep the public in the know about this range of issues and to mobilize them to find solutions.

Our hotline operator, Joel Morton, is working with the Rural Advancement Foundation International-USA to host a Farm Advocates meeting on the Thursday and Friday before the concert. The gathering will allow attendees to share their experiences as farm advocates—folks who work on behalf of farmers to ensure they grow and thrive—and discuss new developments in agricultural credit and finance. The goal of the meeting is to synchronize a network of Farm Advocates nationwide and lay the groundwork for future support, training and coordination of activists.

We’ve also been working on a way for everyone to be an activist. On top of posting all of the latest concert updates, our web marketing manager, Matt Glidden, has made it possible for you to visit our website and contact your senator about helping protect farmers and ranchers from corporate control. He’s also setting up a text-to-donate campaign so Farm Aid supporters can donate $10 to Farm Aid just by hitting “send.”

Several members of the Farm Aid staff have been working out the details for this year’s HOMEGROWN Village, which will be humming with activity on Friday night as well as on Saturday during the concert. About 40 organizations will have activity booths where you can test your luck playing the Game of Farm Life or try out corn grinding. Our HOMEGROWN.org team will also have demonstrations on beekeeping, canning, composting and seed saving. Friday night will also include some local flair with a farmers market and live bands!

On both Friday and Saturday, LIVESTRONG Sporting Park will feature HOMEGROWN® Concessions, delicious food sourced from family farms. Glenda Yoder and our culinary director, Sonya Dagovitz, have been working with the chefs at LIVESTRONG to reimagine their regular menu sourced from local, organic, sustainable and family farm-identified sources. As you might imagine, it takes an enormous amount of planning to orchestrate the collection and preparation of enough local food to feed a whole Farm Aid crowd! Tent rentals, electricity, waterline connections, deliveries, banners— so many details without even throwing the concert into the mix!

On Saturday before the concert begins, there’s also the press event where the Farm Aid board members and local farmers and farm and food activists will speak out about the issues family farmers face today, what needs to change, and how to make those changes happen. Then we arrive at the concert, the biggest logistical maze of all. The Farm Aid Office has been a constant flurry of meetings, phone calls and emails to work out all those nitty-gritty details. Everyone here seems to have the shrewd ability to disappear, resolve a crisis, stir-fry some zucchini and return to their office before you even notice they’re gone. Like superheroes. Farm superheroes.

With all of the staff’s hard work, there’s a lot to be excited about regarding this year’s concert. There’s a great lineup, we’ll be auctioning off opportunities to get right up close to the stage, there will be a video backdrop for the first time, and we’ve got great new Farm Aid merchandise (including shirts made with Texas cotton produced by farmers transitioning to organic farming!). Essentially everything you see, hear, touch or eat at the concert will be part of what it is to be a part of Farm Aid! And we’re so glad you’ll be a part of all of it.

I’ve only been at Farm Aid for a few weeks so far, and I have been in almost constant disbelief at how much work it is to coordinate an event like this. As I was asking everyone in the office what they’ve been working on, my guilt for taking up their time grew exponentially as they spouted off tasks from their to-do lists: flights, housing, media, production, volunteers, artists, consultants, sponsorship, van rentals, tickets, merchandise, trash removal, catering, dressing rooms, sound equipment, credentials, advertising, lighting—just to name a few. And with all of this going on, there’s already talk about where we’ll be holding the concert next year!

It will be remarkable to see all of the activity in the Farm Aid office translate into one amazing concert weekend, and I have no doubt that it will happen. At a recent staff meeting our communications director, Jennifer Fahy, sported a pink tool belt that apparently most of the staff use to lug around anything and everything they might need on concert day (radio, pad of paper, pen, cell phone, bottle of water to counteract the heat, etc., etc.!). And I can’t help but think that it would be an essential component of a farm superhero’s costume.

Farm Aid Music Monday, Starring Neil Young, Willie Nelson and Emmylou Harris

2011-07-25T10:54:00.003-04:00

Farm Aid has seen countless amazing collaborations by musicians over the last 26 years. Today's Farm Aid Music Monday post features another one, this time from Farm Aid's 20th anniversary concert at the First Midwest Bank Amphitheatre in Tinley Park, Illinois. Here, Farm Aid co-founder and board member Neil Young is joined by fellow co-founder Willie Nelson along with Emmylou Harris for "This Old Guitar" from his 2005 album Prairie Wind:

Also from 2005, is this video looking back at 20 years of Farm Aid:

You can get more of this performance and others from the 2005 concert on DVD: click here. And check out more videos on Farm Aid's YouTube channel.

Farmer Hero Friday: Jeremy Freymoyer of Wyomissing, Pennsylvania

2011-07-22T14:51:00.003-04:00

Today's Farmer Hero Friday comes to you on the hottest day we've had all summer here in Massachusetts. Extreme heat is affecting much of the rest of the country too, so I've turned my thoughts to dreams of cold, snowy relief. I wanted to look at our profile of fourth-generation farmer Jeremy Freymoyer and the Freymoyer Christmas Tree Farm.

While primarily a farm devoted to growing Christmas trees, Jeremy and his family have diversified the farm far beyond spruces and firs. Currently, there are twelve acres of trees, twenty acres of hay, and some space devoted to small grain production. The hay and grains act as a steady source of income throughout the year, since Christmas trees are the quintessential seasonal crop.

Jeremy also has used some creative solutions toward making the family farm more sustainable. Most recently, using a grant from Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education (SARE), he has started using sheep and goats to graze the weeds and keep the grass trimmed right around the trees.

“It was really a marriage of utility,” Jeremy said. “My neighbor down the road has sheep and goats so we came up with trying to pasture the sheep in the Christmas trees.” When asked if there are any drawbacks, Jeremy laughed; “When they eat the trees!”

Click here to read the rest of our profile of Jeremy.

Farm Aid Music Monday Starring Willie Nelson & Lukas Nelson

2011-07-18T10:26:00.007-04:00

Today's Farm Aid Music Monday post features another couple of artists we're excited to see perform again this year at Farm Aid 2011 in Kansas City: Willie Nelson and Lukas Nelson. Willie, of course, has been with Farm Aid since the very beginning 26 years ago. His son Lukas and his band "Lukas Nelson and Promise of the Real" has played the last two years. Here you can see Willie and Lukas play a cover version of "Texas Flood" last year in Milwaukee, Wisconsin at Farm Aid 25: Growing Hope for America:

Update: Initially, this post said "Texas Flood" was originally by Stevie Ray Vaughan, but @Trevor_Adams on Twitter corrected me, pointing out that it was originally written and performed by blues musicians Larry Davis and Fenton Robinson. Stevie Ray Vaughan also recorded a version for his debut album with Double Trouble in 1983.

You can see more performances by Willie and Lukas on Farm Aid's YouTube channel.

Join the Farm Aid Team to Raise a Ruckus in KC!

2011-07-14T11:12:00.007-04:00

Ruckus Sports is an obstacle race series, encouraging participants to get down in the dirt and up over walls to challenge themselves, all in the name of fun. Ruckus has named Farm Aid as their official charity partner in Kansas City for their August 6, 2011 race. Ruckus Kansas City will be held at the Valley Speedway in Grain Valley, Missouri.

Registrants are encouraged to consider raising funds for Farm Aid with their Ruckus team. The top three fundraising teams will win a pair of VIP tickets to the Farm Aid concert on August 13 at LIVESTRONG Sporting Park!

After completing the challenge, participants are invited to stay and “Raise a Ruckus” – celebrating their success and sharing stories about the obstacles amongst fellow participants or cheering on the top athletes in the Champions Heat while enjoying food, beverages and music. Kids can also compete in the mini-Ruckus, an obstacle course designed for the next generation of Ruckus athletes.

As Farm Aid’s official team captain, I am on the hunt for teammates! I encourage you to submit your ideas on Farm Aid's Facebook page for who you think would make a great team member for us in Kansas City. We are limited to 20 participants for the official 'Farm Aid team', but I hope to see many more of you crawling through the mud with me.

Registration is now open. For a complete breakout of pricing, to see the obstacles and to register for Ruckus Kansas City, click here.

Farm Aid Music Monday, Starring Jamey Johnson

2011-07-11T11:19:00.004-04:00

This Farm Aid Music Monday highlights Grammy-nominated artist Jamey Johnson. He's played at Farm Aid three times before (2008 in Mansfield, MA, 2009 in St. Louis, MO and 2010 in Milwaukee, WI) and it was announced last week that he'll be joining us in Kansas City for Farm Aid 2011! Here are two performances from Farm Aid 25 last year at Miller Park in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. First up is his cover version of "I Saw the Light" originally by Hank Williams:

And here's "Can't Cash My Checks":

You can see all seven songs Jamey performed last year on Farm Aid's YouTube channel. Farm Aid Members can watch his 2008 and 2009 performances in the FarmYard on our site — click here for more information on becoming a member.

Farmer Hero Friday: Will Allen of Milwaukee, Wisconsin

2011-07-08T11:09:00.005-04:00

This Farmer Hero Friday highlights Will Allen, who we interviewed last year. Before farming, Will played professional basketball in Europe. Later, he retired to found Growing Power, which provides education and hands on experience to those who wish to learn about urban farming and also makes farm fresh vegetables and meats available to all Milwaukee residents, regardless of race, income, or address.

At age 28, Will decided to retire from basketball in favor of farming. He returned to the US, and began growing on a small Wisconsin farm owned by his wife’s family. While searching for an urban location to sell his produce in 1993, he came upon a two-acre property in northwest Milwaukee that was owned by the city. “I wanted the land, and I told the city I would use it to teach kids about farming,” he said. He was granted permission to purchase the plot, and he set to work farming in the city.

"Long ago I came to the conclusion that you couldn’t grow food in the soil in the cities, it was too contaminated," so Will came up with an idea that he built his urban farm around: always grow food in new soil. Inspired by what he saw in Europe, Will began experimenting with vermicomposting, using worms to break down vegetable waste in order to create fertile organic soil. He spent five years experimenting with his compost before he was happy with the growing system he created. He is confident in his knowledge and his methods, "If you gave me a handful of worms, and dropped me off anywhere in the world, I could build you a plot as big as you wanted."

Click here to read more about Will.

What's Been Happening at HOMEGROWN.org

2011-06-29T17:08:00.012-04:00

Happy summer everyone! All of us have favorite traditions this time of year: weekly visits to the farmers market, early morning garden-tending, post-swimming watermelon slices, grilling anything and everything. I hope you’re enjoying your summer – stop by and tell us about it some time! Here are a few highlights from recent activity on HOMEGROWN.org:

We’ve started a newbies group especially for those of us who are just taking the plunge into a more sustainable way of living. We know it can be a little overwhelming, so this is a great place to start.

Another way to start slow and easy is by visiting our HOMEGROWN 101 pages. Caroline just put together a terrific Composting 101 that will really get you headed in the right direction.

The member blogs are the place where folks can share their stories. HOMEGROWNer Zoubida has been learning more and more about state of the world and how folks have been inspired to make change. She has committed to writing a HOMEGROWN 101 called: “Canning for Food Security and Sustainability.” Join Zoubida with your thoughts.

I’ll leave you with a lovely video about the simple goodness of farmers – and the people who support them!

We’re up for visitors anytime, so don’t be shy!

Helping Farmers Rebuild: An Update on Farm Aid's Response to Disasters

2011-06-29T15:52:00.003-04:00

So far this spring the Farm Aid Family Farm Disaster Fund has raised over $18,000, thanks to people just like you. As of next week, we will have sent out almost every penny of that total to cooperating “on-the-ground” farm organizations with whom we work to see that the disaster funds and relief supplies go directly to farms, ranches, and rural families in some of the worst-hit areas around the country. Here’s a re-cap of our disaster grants so far this year.

Many of you responded immediately to our call to help rural families in Alabama after multiple lethal tornadoes tore up big chunks of that state in April. Though national coverage understandably focused on the devastation in the city of Tuscaloosa, we knew that rural swaths of the state were also hard hit and desperately needed assistance. Our longtime ally, the Federation of Southern Cooperatives/Land Assistance Fund, went to work immediately to transform their Epes, Alabama, farmer training center into a tornado relief staging area. Farm Aid pitched in with a $5,000 disaster grant to help funnel donated relief supplies of all kinds (non-perishable food, baby food, diapers, toiletries, towels, linens, building supplies, generators, etc.) to rural families in desperate need. Federation staff and many volunteers have been working non-stop on this effort for weeks now. Here is a report on their efforts from late May.

Up in the rural northeast corner of the United States, away from the national spotlight, severe storms led to flooding of many farms in the state of Vermont. In response, Farm Aid granted $3,500 in disaster funds to another longtime ally, Rural Vermont. Rural Vermont is now busy doing outreach to and accepting applications from affected farms most in need, and every cent of that grant will soon be in farmers’ hands. Currently, the lead story on Rural Vermont’s homepage describes the effort and includes a link through which farms may apply for assistance. If you know of farms flooded in Vermont, please send them this link.

Out West, record snowmelt in the Rockies and a very wet spring across the northern Plains have combined to create severe flooding throughout the huge Missouri River watershed, saturating much of region and leading to both urban and rural flooding in many places: Minot, Fargo, Omaha, to name the places most in the news, but also Devil’s Lake, South Dakota, Hamburg, Iowa, and many other less-populated, farm-heavy rural areas. Farm Aid is set to send $9,500 in disaster funds to yet another cooperating partner, the Center for Rural Affairs in Lyons, Nebraska, for dispersal directly to farms and ranches in the region.

Each of these three cooperating organizations is part of our nationwide Farmer Resource Network, and, thankfully, they go to work overtime when we ask for help in getting direct disaster assistance to farm and ranch families in their areas. We know, of course, that there is much more to come: levee breaks and continued flooding along the Missouri, Mississippi, and other rivers; severe drought across most of Texas and surrounding states; hurricane season throughout the Gulf of Mexico; pockets of severe drought, drenching rain, or tornado-spawning storms in many other places across the country. Even as we are busy preparing for Farm Aid 2011 in Kansas City, we will continue our disaster watch and send help to America’s farmers and ranchers whenever and wherever we can. As always, everything that we do to help ultimately depends on you, and we will see to it that your donations to our Family Farm Disaster Fund go to farmers most in need.

Farm Aid Music Monday, Starring Dave Matthews

2011-06-27T10:11:00.002-04:00

It's Farm Aid Music Monday and time for another trio of videos from Farm Aid 2003, which was held on September 7, 2003 in Columbus, Ohio. Here's Farm Aid board member Dave Matthews performing "Too Much" after being introduced by fellow board member and Farm Aid co-founder John Mellencamp:

Here's "Gravedigger":

And finally, "Save Me":

You can get this performance and others from the Farm Aid 2003 on DVD in our store by clicking here. For more Farm Aid videos, visit our YouTube channel.

Farmer Hero Friday: Jamie Collins of Carmel Valley, California

2011-06-24T16:05:00.004-04:00

Today's Farmer Hero Friday looks back at an interview we did with Jamie Collins of Carmel, California in 2008. Jamie and her farmer partner grow over 100 varieties of vegetables, herbs, flowers, goats, hens and roosters on 30 acres on Serendipity Farms.

What is the best thing about being a farmer?

Overall, the best things about being a farmer are the challenges and the chances for creativity. I love big work days where everyone works together, whether it be planting an obscene amount of potatoes or building a fence. It feels good to work as a team and to be exhausted and dirty at the end of the day.

I also love hanging out with the chefs and sampling the dishes they create from our food– chefs are rock stars to farmers! Walking the fields at sunset when everything is quiet is another thing that feeds my soul. It is at this time I check how the crops are progressing. Being able to harvest your own fresh, organic bounty is such a luxury.

Click here to read more about Nick.

Make a call for fairness for family farmers and ranchers

2011-06-22T10:43:00.006-04:00

THREE YEARS AGO, Candidate Barack Obama promised to stand up for open and fair markets for family farm livestock producers.

TWO YEARS AGO, Congress passed a farm bill directing USDA to write rules to end price discrimination against small and mid-sized farmers by corporate meatpackers and processors and to ensure fair production contracts for poultry and hog producers.

ONE YEAR AGO, USDA issued a proposed rule that would reign in some of the worst abuses of giant meat packers and poultry companies.

ONE WEEK AGO, at the bidding of corporate meatpackers, the House of Representatives passed a measure to halt the rulemaking process.

Tell the President that we have waited long enough.

Tell him to stand firm against corporate greed and bullying.

Call the White House comment line between
Monday, June 20th and Friday, June 24th.
202-456-1111

Keep trying until you reach an operator, and share the following message:

“I am a (farmer, grower, consumer) from ________ (city and state) calling in support of USDA’s proposed livestock and poultry rule, also called the “GIPSA” rule. Fair, open and transparent markets are essential to rural economic recovery. We need strong rules to curb corporate control over livestock and poultry markets and to foster a livestock industry in which small and mid-sized farmers and ranchers can thrive. Please issue a final GIPSA rule without delay.”

Learn More:

Packers and integrators use their market power to manipulate prices paid to livestock producers and contract terms to poultry producers and increasingly to livestock producers.

The Packers and Stockyards Act of 1921 makes it unlawful for meat and poultry packers and processors and companies that contract with farmers to raise hogs and poultry from engaging in any “unfair, unjustly discriminatory, or deceptive practice or device,” or to “make or give any undue or unreasonable preference or advantage to any particular person or locality in any respect, or subject any particular person or locality to any undue or unreasonable prejudice or disadvantage in any respect.”

But until now, USDA has never issued the regulations necessary to define these broad prohibitions in order to adequately enforce the protections for livestock and poultry farmers. That changed because in the 2008 Farm Bill, Congress voted to include directives to USDA to issue the regulations to define these prohibitions. In addition, Congress told USDA to clarify how the Act should be applied to give individual farmers and ranchers a fair shake when dealing with the large corporate entities that control our nation’s meat and poultry processing. The proposed rule does exactly what the Farm Bill directed USDA to do.

In addition, for both livestock and poultry farmers and ranchers, the proposed rule would clarify that when a farmer or rancher shows individual harm because of unfair or deceptive practices by livestock and poultry processors, the farmer and rancher does not also need to a show harm to competition throughout the livestock or poultry market. USDA has the authority under the Packer & Stockyards Act to clarify for the courts that farmers and ranchers do not need to show this “competitive injury” to the market as a whole, in order have the legal protections for fair play provided under the Packers and Stockyards Act.

GIPSA stands for the Grain Inspection and Packers and Stockyards Administration.

For more information on the how the GIPSA rules help poultry producers, go to the Rural Advancement Foundation International USA (RAFI) website.

For more information on how the GIPSA rules help independent livestock producers, go to the Center for Rural Affairs website.

Bring Yolanda Home! Boston Organizes to Legalize Backyard Chickens.

2011-06-21T09:35:00.001-04:00

I recently attended a gathering of Boston residents interested in rallying around the right to keep backyard chickens. While chickens are not illegal in Boston, the permitting process essentially makes it impossible to legally keep a backyard flock.

The first step in getting your permit is where you are likely to be denied unless your land is zoned for agricultural use. We do have a farm in city limits that has been around since colonial times, and we have some innovative urban farms, but most of us urbanites do not live on agricultural land. But many of us are lucky to have yards that are just perfect for a backyard flock.

If you make it through that step, the second part of the permitting process involves getting approval from the health department. Evidently they have given out two of those permits in the past two years. Two! But we know there are many more flocks than that in the city, flying under the radar. And those folks don’t want that--they want to be responsible, law-abiding chicken owners. So we’re working to bring about change.

This all came about because of Yolanda—she, in all her feathered glory, is our rallying point, our spokes-hen, our inspiration. Yolanda and her three fellow hens lived a happy life in the Boston neighborhood of Roslindale until one day when the Animal Control officer came by to tell Yolanda’s owners that without a permit, the flock had to go. When Yolanda’s owners applied for a permit, they were denied. Yolanda is now in exile, waiting for an appeal process to begin so she can become legal and go back home.

There are numerous benefits to keeping backyard chickens, best of all fresh, local, tastier and more nutritious eggs! But a backyard flock can also provide companionship, valuable learning experiences for kids, pest control, fertilizer and food independence. Backyard chickens are allowed in cities such as New York, Seattle, Chicago, Austin and local communities like Newton, Belmont and Arlington, Massachusetts.

Folks opposed to backyard birds have legitimate concerns about urban flocks, but they’re easily addressed by responsible owners. One concern is about the pests that an urban coop might attract, such as mice and rats. A properly built and maintained coop will keep infestations from occurring. Another concern is noise, but hens softly peep all day and go to sleep all night (you can’t say that for the neighborhood watch dog, can you?). Most cities outlaw roosters, which are not necessary for a steady supply of delicious eggs, hence no cock-a-doodle-doodling. Another concern is waste, but a responsible owner will actually turn that waste into valuable fertilizer by composting it (and making neighbors supporters by distributing that “black gold” for thriving gardens up and down the street!) Not to mention a flock of 4-5 chickens produces about the same amount of waste as just one dog. http://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gif

To support Yolanda and bring her home, become a friend on facebook.

If you’re a Boston resident and want to support the effort to legalize backyard chickens, sign the petition.

And check out Yolanda's website!

We’ll keep you posted on Yolanda’s plight and the work to make Boston as green and focused on local food security as it can be. If you have your own flock, or have worked to legalize chickens in your town or city, let us know!

Bring Yolanda Home!

Farm Aid Music Monday, Starring Sheryl Crow

2011-06-20T12:30:00.003-04:00

Today's Farm Aid Music Monday brings another couple of videos from Farm Aid 2003, which was held on September 7, 2003 in Columbus, Ohio. This time it's Sheryl Crow with two songs from her performance. First up is "Steve McQueen":

And here is "The First Cut is the Deepest"

You can get this performance and others from the Farm Aid 2003 on DVD in our store by clicking here. For more Farm Aid videos, visit our YouTube channel.

Tornado Aftermath for A Farm Here in Massachusetts

2011-06-17T09:18:00.006-04:00

In a highly unusual severe weather event here in New England on June 1st, multiple tornadoes hit western Massachusetts, including the small town of Monson. The town itself sustained major structural damage to homes, businesses, churches and schools. In addition, a local farm was in the twister’s path.

Jessica Bailey, one of seven siblings raised on the farm, called the Farm Aid Hotline to report what had happened and seek assistance for her parents Sandy and Leo Bailey. Their Raging Acres Farm raises horses, sheep, goats and chickens, and sells free-range eggs as well as cordwood from its 55 acres of heavily forested, hilly land. Though, luckily, no one was hurt and no structures came down, 30-40 acres of forest were torn apart, leaving behind a tangled, impassable and dangerous mess of shattered trees, broken branches and uprooted trunks. Assorted objects, or portions of them, including chunks of a roof, pieces of fencing, a clothes basket and other things now litter what remains of the woods.

New storms passing through in the days since the first of June have raised the fearsome possibility of lightning strikes setting off what now amounts to a tinderbox of blasted trees, including very old, very big oaks. Jessica also reported that standing water in what had been a beaver pond was just plain gone, either sucked up into the tornado or dispersed so widely that the pond itself disappeared.

Here are two photos that Jessica sent in to us. The first is a shot of damage to the farm’s forested land. And the second is a shot of the tornado itself after it moved on from the farm and headed straight into town.

And here is a moving interview with Sandy, Jessica’s mom, and Jenna, one of Jessica’s sisters, describing the experience of riding out the storm in the cellar of the farmhouse. Despite heavy damage to the farm’s forested acres, the Baileys understand how lucky they were and make plain that others in town, facing having to rebuild smashed homes, were not so fortunate.

Jessica is a Farm Aid member who follows us closely online. Back in 2008, she and her family had a great time at our “home” concert in nearby Mansfield, Massachusetts. Jessica said she has known about the Farm Aid Hotline for a long time, but never seriously thought that her own family farm would ever have any reason to call in. Though we’re a national organization and we try to be of service to farms anywhere in the country, it is always gratifying to hear from a farm in our own backyard, so to speak. We try to do what good neighbors everywhere do when folks nearby are in trouble. As all of us brace for what certainly looks like increasingly ferocious weather disasters nationwide (severe drought, massive flooding, monster tornadoes and likely hurricanes), neighborly relations near and far will be sorely needed. Help us help by considering a donation to the Farm Aid Family Farm Disaster Fund.

A Farmer Hero Faces Rising Waters

2011-06-14T15:01:00.010-04:00

In April I interviewed Corky Jones, a soybean and wheat farmer in Brownville, Nebraska, for our Farmer Hero profile. Half of his farm is located at the bottom of the Missouri River and when we talked in early spring he was repairing levees and fixing drainage due to flooding in the past few years. He was about to start planting his crop for the growing season and had no idea what this year had in store for him.

Due to frequent heavy rains and massive snowmelt in the Missouri's headwaters in the Rockies, dams throughout the Missouri River began to overflow early this spring forcing the Army Corps of Engineers to release the water up and down the river. To protect populated areas, they broke levees and created man-made floods in small communities and across many acres of farmland. Last week it was brought to our attention that Corky’s farm was underwater so I immediately called to check in on him.

Eight hundred acres of Corky’s farmland are now below four to five feet of water; he said there are whitecaps on his bean and corn fields. Corky said the Corps plans to release more water and the river will be above the flood mark all summer long. In addition to the man-made flooding, more rain is expected for the next few weeks and the run off from the snowmelt is still coming downstream, adding to the river’s volume.

In terms of his land, “There is nothing we can do,” says Corky. His crop fields look like a lake and all his seeds have already been planted. He said all expenses other than harvest have already been put into the land. With seed costs so high and all his inputs applied, Corky couldn’t put his loss into words. Thankfully his home and his animals are fine but because all of the wild deer, raccoons, turkeys and snakes are seeking higher ground—his dry land is infested with wildlife.

Fortunately Corky’s land in the hills is safe from the floods and another piece of his land is still protected by an intact levee. However, the Missouri River has backed up the Nemaha River forcing Corky and his sons to pump the water off the field just to have a crop this season.

Locally, the Jones family and many others are coming together to protect their town and its livelihood. The Jones’ are using heavy equipment left over from Corky’s previous job in construction to add to the width and height of the levee that protects Brownville’s sewer system. Community members are hauling dirt and sand to protect towns and the National Guard has been in areas too dangerous for civilians to access to drop huge bags of sand.

About 17 miles up the river from Brownville is Hamburg, Iowa. Their town was evacuated in preparation for six to eight feet of water downtown. The Corps of Engineers said that the area is too dangerous for them to work in, so farmers have stayed behind to save their land on their own. Some predict that these families will not be able to return to their homes as early as November. Yesterday, the levees broke and the flooding has begun.

Corky has been to every single Farm Aid concert and before we hung up I had to make sure he would be there in Kansas City this year. “Oh, yes!” he replied, adding that there will be flooded ground all around us there as the river cuts right through Kansas City, Kansas and Missouri.

These past few months I have turned numb watching natural disasters strike all over the world and I feel like each day I wake up to another headline. As I watch all these stories unfold on TV and read about them in the paper, it is hard for me to grasp the reality of it all. After talking to Corky and hearing it from someone who is out there suffering, everything seemed to sink in. Here in Massachusetts, we experienced some strong thunderstorms and a few deadly tornadoes and Corky told me, “I thought about ya’ll.” That is when I realized we are all thinking of each other, feeling helpless, on opposite ends of the country as we watch disaster after disaster strike.

As Corky puts these feelings into words, “It’s drastic news but when it keeps happening … it’s just old news. It’s just another flooded house, another torn down building.” At Farm Aid, though, we know for each flooded field and home, a family farm is at risk.

To donate to Farm Aid’s Family Farm Disaster Fund, click here.

Corky's going to send us some photos and we'll post them as soon as we have them.