Willie Nelson’s 40th Anniversary Farm Aid Challenges Corporate Power in America: ‘They Need to Stand Up and Pay a Conscience Tax!’ Says Neil Young

Farm Aid 40, held Saturday (Sept. 20) successful Minneapolis and headlined by founding musicians Willie Nelson, John Mellencamp and Neil Young, is expected to beryllium the astir palmy payment for household farmers by the enactment successful galore years, arsenic income of 36,232 tickets astatine Huntington Bank Stadium are added to contributions solicited connected aerial during a five-plus-hour broadcast of the lawsuit connected CNN. 

But for Neil Young, it won’t beryllium enough.

“It’s 1 of the highlights of my beingness to person been portion of this,” said Young, flanked by Nelson and Mellencamp, and joined by chap Farm Aid committee members Dave Matthews and Margo Price, astatine Farm Aid’s greeting property conference. 

“That said, there’s 1 happening that truly strikes maine astir this day. And what I would similar to accidental is, we request wealth truthful we tin springiness it to the farmers and enactment the farmers. And we request to get it from these large corporations and billionaires that person taken each the farmers’ onshore oregon a large information of it.”

“We privation donations from them,” said Young. “Huge donations to Farm Aid. We don’t privation to springiness them favors. They bought hundreds and thousands of acres of farmland successful this state arsenic investments. And they’re surviving the bully life. They request to basal up and wage a conscience taxation to the farmers of America!”

The 40th day of Farm Aid and its ngo — to physique and fortify a household farm-centered cultivation strategy successful America that values household farmers, bully food, soil, water, clime and beardown communities — was celebrated Saturday with much than 12 hours of music. 

In summation to Farm Aid’s committee members, the singular measure included: Bob Dylan, Kenny Chesney, Billy Strings, Nathaniel Rateliff & the Night Sweats, Lukas Nelson, Trampled by Turtles, Wynonna Judd, Steve Earle, Waxahatchee, Eric Burton of Black Pumas, Jesse Welles, Madeline Edwards and the Wisdom Indian Dancers.

When Willie Nelson launched Farm Aid successful 1985, amid an economical situation that was forcing household farms into bankruptcy, the enactment recognized that the nation’s agriculture strategy was suffering from the consolidation of economical powerfulness and emergence of firm control. Forty years on, the aforesaid firm forces impact astir each facet of American life, from wellness attraction to lodging to its quality media. 

Farmers, increasing the nation’s food, saw the tempest clouds first.

“We were kids erstwhile we started this thing,” said Mellencamp astatine the property conference. “We were young kids and we had ideals. We were truthful naive that we thought we would bash 1 amusement and they’d wage attraction to us.”

“Willie and I went to Washington, successful beforehand of the Senate subcommittee connected farming. Willie talked and I talked and immoderate f—ing legislator stood up and goes, ‘Where’s your guys’ guitars?’ I looked astatine Willie and I said, ‘Let’s get the hellhole outta here.'”

The code successful Washington, D.C., has hardly improved implicit Farm Aid’s 40 years. It weighed connected Margo Price’s caput earlier her performance.

“It’s truthful important for america to travel together, close now, successful America,” she said. “We’re being divided. We’re being distracted. Our voices are being silenced. And apathy isn’t it. They privation america to beryllium overwhelmed. They privation america to beryllium warring with each different truthful we don’t recognize that it’s the radical successful powerfulness that are making each of these things terrib...