Farm Aid 2019 took place this Saturday at Alpine Valley Music Theatre in East Troy, Wisconsin. The first Farm Aid concert was held in 1985 in Champaign, Illinois. This year’s sold-out event was attended by more than 35,000 people—a 12-hour-long celebration of American farmers headlined by Dave Matthews, John Mellencamp, Neil Young, and Willie Nelson.
The day was not just about the music. It celebrated the American farmer with educational booths, speeches from the stage, farm demonstrations, and advocacy for better American agricultural practices. The food concessions included items made from local family farms.
Emerging from it all was a vision of an America filled with successful family farms that thrive by treating the soil and earth with respect. A future filled with farmers markets in every community and an active public of consumers that uses the democratic system to end unhealthy corporate farming and corporate abuses. In this world, artists help make decisions, and communities come together to teach one another skills and to share a rich culture.
Joeff Davis
Farm Aid board President Willie Nelson kicked off the day with a morning press conference. Farmers and performers shared stories of their lives and hopes for America’s family farms and agricultural industry.
Joeff Davis
Neil Young and Dave Matthews shared a laugh during the morning press conference.
Joeff Davis
Sarah Lloyd, Wisconsin Farmers Union, spoke about Dairy Together, a Wisconsin based group working to rebuild a viable dairy industry for family farmers and rural communities.
Joeff Davis
The Ho-Chunk Thundercloud Singers kicked off the music at Farm Aid 2019.
Joeff Davis
UK artist, Yola, gave an outstanding performance, ending in the first standing ovation of Farm Aid 2019. Here she belts out Elton John’s classic, “Goodbye Yellow Brick Road.”
Joeff Davis
Willie Nelson’s son, Lucas Nelson, performed with his group, Promise of the Real.
Joeff Davis
The horn section from Nathaniel Rateliff and The Night Sweats came onstage with Lucas Nelson and the Promise of the Real during their set
Joeff Davis
Ending harmful corporate farming practices was a theme throughout the day.
Joeff Davis
Tanya Tucker returned to the Farm Aid stage for the first time since the first concert in 1985.
Joeff Davis
Nathaniel Rateliff & The Night Sweats performed an exciting set, with Rateliff’s bluesy soulful voice reminiscent of Van Morrison.
Joeff Davis
Jamey Johnson (left) played Farm Aid 2019.
Joeff Davis
In the Homegrown Skills Tent, Rick Sallmann of Southern Wisconsin’s Walworth County Beekeepers Club educated concertgoers on the importance of the honey bee.
Joeff Davis
Wisconsin apples were for sale in the Homegrown Village at Farm Aid 2019.
Joeff Davis
In the Homegrown Village, Jim Stute, Program Director of Crop and Soil research at the Michael Fields Agricultural Institute in East Troy, Wisconsin, demonstrated a rain fall simulator to show the impact that different management systems have on soil erosion.
Joeff Davis
Brittany Tripp (right) from Pell Lake, Wisconsin and Rebecca Dankert from Elkhorn, Wisconsin pose with signs at the North American Marine Alliance organizational booth in Homegrown Village. The Marine Alliance based in Gloucester, Massachusetts supports small family fisherman throughout country.
Joeff Davis
Dave Matthews played an all acoustic set with Tim Reynolds. Matthews serves on the current Farm Aid board along with John Mellencamp, Willie Nelson and Neil Young.
Joeff Davis
John Mellencamp’s set at Farm Aid 2019 was filled with classics like “Little Pink Houses,” “Jack and Diane” and “Ain’t that America.”
Joeff Davis
Some 37,000 people took part in Farm Aid 2019.
Joeff Davis
At the end of the 12-hour concert, Willie Nelson led the crowd in the songs “Will the Circe Be Unbroken” and “I Saw the Light,” on a stage packed by the day’s performers.