At 40, Farm Aid Is Still About Music. It’s Also a Movement
October 15, 2025 | Source: Civil Eats | by Lisa Held
Inside the St. Paul Student Center at the University of Minnesota, four American farmers are in the midst of a panel discussion, flanked by a Farm Aid banner that says “Keep America Growing.” It’s the day before the legendary festival celebrates its 40th anniversary, with musicians donating their time to raise money for the country’s small family farms.
They come from wildly different backgrounds. Gary Wertish is a commodity grain and livestock grower who heads up the Minnesota Farmers Union. Reginaldo Haslett-Marroquin is an immigrant from Guatemala building a network of regenerative chicken farms. Zoe Hollomon produces fruit at a cooperative that doubles as a healing retreat center and directs a nonprofit that supports Black farmers. Paul Sobocinski, a lifelong organizer, raised hogs for Niman Ranch for 20 years.
More than 350 of their fellow food producers—from as far away as Puerto Rico, Oregon, and Texas—are packed into the auditorium for the Farmers’ Forum. Many attendees toured local farms the day before or attended the “Color Me Country” celebration of BIPOC country artists, and the forum buzzes with conversations that can’t wait until the program ends.