South Carolina farmer Nathaniel Rhodes is selling his crops for the same prices farmers got in 1970, while the cost of everything else has exploded. He's clear about what has to happen: either the price of inputs comes down or the price of farm goods goes up, because the current math doesn't work.
Farm Aid's investment in regional farm organizations helped build the infrastructure that advocates rely on today. VT farmer Kate Duesterberg traces how that movement took shape, connecting farmers across the country and bringing them into conversations that affect their lives.
Mental health is important in every community and farmers understand that deeply. Minnesota #FarmerHero Bob Worth has spent 55 years caring for the same land he grew up on, carrying forward a legacy of persistence and generational resilience. Bob’s story is not exclusively the crops he grows or the acres he farms. Through his work in mental health advocacy, he reminds us that resilience in farm life isn’t just about surviving financial hardship — it’s also about facing the invisible mental health struggles so many farmers carry in silence.
For #MentalHealthAwarenessMonth, we honor the strength it takes to ask for help and thank advocates like Bob who works to keep their communities healthy and connected. Read Bob's story at the link in our bio.
If you are a farmer in need of assistance, please contact 1-800-FARM-AID to speak with a member of our hotline team.
Farm Aid centers the voices that mainstream ag conversations tend to leave out. TN Rep. Justin Jones on why seeing indigenous farmers, farmers of color, women, and queer farmers at the center of this space matters, and what it says about what farming actually looks like today.
We have a special #weekendmusic post today. Our new podcast series that dropped yesterday, covers the 40th anniversary of a farmer protest in Chillicothe, MO. At this protest, @johnmellencamp performed before 10,000 people in a parking lot, using a flatbed truck for a stage. Watch his performance from May 7, 1986 and then listen to podcast to learn about the longest sustained farmer protest in American history. /chillicothe1
Link to performance in bio.
Oregon farmer and activist Kendra Kimbirauskas on why the Farm Aid community is where farmers and advocates turn when they need answers. It's a network of people who know each other's strengths and have deep experience with the hardest problems in agriculture.
40 years ago, farmers and allies in Chillicothe, MO, launched the longest sustained farmer protest in American history — a 145-day blockade of a USDA office during the 1980s Farm Crisis. In this two-part series, we take you back to the frontlines of the fight and the movement that refused to back down.
Hear from @johnmellencamp , Carolyn Mugar, @missouriruralcrisiscenter 's Roger Allison and Rhonda Perry, plus archival audio from the Rev. Jesse Jackson and more. /podcast
40 years ago today, John Mellencamp traveled to Chillicothe, MO, to join farmers blocking the local Farmers Home Administration office in what became the longest farmer protest in the US! Organized by Missouri Rural Crisis Center, the 145-day blockade brought together a multiracial working-class coalition of civil rights, labor and farm activists to demand action for farm families facing bankruptcy. Two new episodes of Farm Aid’s podcast, Against the Grain, share the story of the blockade, what led to it and what it accomplished. Listen to both episodes now at /podcast. Link also in bio.
