Today is a great day in music history in the United States. Not only is the current Farm Aid this weekend, it is also the 27th birthday for the popular music fest!The very first Farm Aid was sponsored by Willie Nelson  in Champaign, Illinois, with Merle Haggard, John Cougar Mellencamp, Roger Miller, The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, Alabama, George Jones, Bob Dylan, Tom Petty, B.B. King, Judy Rodman and Waylon Jennings, among others!

The importance of raising money and awareness for our nations farmers is more important now than i was 27 years ago. As family farms have started to dwindle in big numbers and the USA has increased reliance on foreign producers, the need has grown even more! Feed prices, fuel costs and a poor economy have forced many farmers to sell off their herds and land in order to survive and many of the farmers that I have talked to recently are making just enough to stay even or just below even in some cases. It is sad and scary. The fact that our government has decided to help certain areas of the economy with bail outs and  not others is tragic. As long as we keep importing food from other countries and not paying attention to the needs of the agriculture industry here at home, events like Farm Aid are going to stay vital to the survival of food producers in the United States.

This years Farm Aid is not too far down the road. Hershey, PA is the site for this years 27th Farm Aid! If you can't make it but would care to donate to the cause, take a look at the Farm Aid site.

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