Willie Nelson Invites Candidates to Farm Aid
August 22, 2000
Willie Nelson, country-western singer and president of Farm Aid, says a "crash in commodity prices caused by failed farm policy and increasing corporate concentration in agriculture" prompted him to ask presidential candidates Al Gore, George W. Bush, Ralph Nader and Pat Buchanan to meet at Farm Aid 2000, Sept. 17.
The 15th anniversary concert will be held at the Nissan Pavilion in Prince William County, VA. In addition to the four presidential candidates, the members of the House and Senate Agricultural Committees, members of the House and Senate Agriculture Appropriations Committees and the House and Senate leadership have been invited to attend.
"It is so bad in farm country that a farmer's return on a bushel of corn won't even buy a gallon of gasoline," Nelson said. "This is why we need members of Congress and the future president to hear from family farmers about how we can work together to ensure that our food continues to be produced in America by our family farmers."
According to Nelson and Farm Aid, current farm policy has caused a chronic overproduction of grain, livestock and dairy products and has forced family farmers to sell their products at far less than it costs to produce them. The average farmer earns only $7,000 annually from on-farm income, and among all livelihoods in the country, family farmers are facing the greatest decline, according to Farm Aid.
Defenders of current farm policy say that agriculture’s problems stem from four years of favorable worldwide weather and the resulting bumper crops, as well as sluggish demand following the Asian crisis – factors which, they say, cannot plausibly be connected to the current "freedom to farm" law. They also cite studies such as one by the University of Missouri that showed more wheat would actually have been planted under past farm policies, even with set-asides, than was planted under the current farm bill.
The line-up for Farm Aid 2000 includes founders Nelson, Neil Young and John Mellencamp along with Barenaked Ladies, Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young, Travis Tritt, Sawyer Brown, Arlo Guthrie, North Mississippi Allstars, Jimmy Sturr, Shannon Curfman and more artists to be announced.