.png)
Farm Aid Heroes Represent Strength, Resilience of Family Farmers
- Bob Benenson
- Oct 1
- 8 min read
Farmers' Statements Filled with Inspiration and Hope
The videos and conversations highlighting Farm Aid's designated "farmer heroes" provide some of the most profound and moving segments of the annual press event that precedes the non-profit's epic concert.
While they are just a handful of the nation's small farmers, they symbolize the strength, courage, resilience and determination of a community that for most of the nation's history was the heartbeat of American life, and — as we advocates of a fairer, decentralized, local-focused food and farm sector believe — should be again.
The farmer heroes at the 40th anniversary Farm Aid Festival, held September 20 in Minneapolis, are all from Minnesota. They were seen first in videos, shown on the big screen, that established their stories and the challenges and successes that have been central to their farming lives. They then were interviewed live on stage by Shorlette Ammons and Jennifer Fahy, the organization's co-executive directors.
The following provides a synopsis of each participant's work and quotes from their on-stage conversions.
One quick note: To Local Food Forum, small farmers, most of whom work every day to overcome challenges, build their businesses, support their local economy, and provide us with food, are all heroes. I'm not saying that for dramatic effect. If it wasn't for these farmers, there would be no local food, and there would be no Local Food Forum.
If you are a farmer with a story you'd like to share, please click the button below to let me know. The more people in the general public know about what it means to be a farmer, the more likely it will be that they will support our movement for change.
RUTH ANN CARTY, FARMER ADVOCATE, CLARKFIELD, MINNESOTA
Ruth Ann Carty's family was affected by the farm economic crisis of the 1980s. After they were able to save their farm, she told her husband that there should be a way for them to help other farmers in crisis. The farmer advocate role she first took on was supposed to be a short-term position. She is still doing it 39 years later, and has no intention to stop.
Obviously we went through the crisis of the '80s, and when everybody talks about the crisis, that's when we think about. But I've been a farm advocate for a long time, and there has never been an aspect of farming that wasn't in crisis. I've never once been without one client, and usually it's many.
What has changed? Technology, huge. Technology is a giant change... We're seeing a lot of ridiculous expense to get into farming and trying to figure out how to get young people into farming.
I'm very proud of our young people, because they're they're not giving up. They're going to be farmers, and it's just a pleasure, just a pleasure, to be able to work with them, to work with the communities where we all work together. We belong together. We know what our heritage is. And it's not that we have to do this. It's that we love to do this, and so, just keep on going.
Am I ever going to quit? Probably not.
KELSEY ZAAVEDRA, HEIRLOOMISTA FARM (NORTH BRANCH, MINNESOTA)
Kelsey explained in her video that she grows heirloom vegetables, fruit and herbs, produces a lot of seed, and to diversify her income streams, hosted tours, created a farm shop, and allowed people to camp on her farm. But she found herself in a protracted tangle with local authorities who contended many of her activities were not permitted. After agreeing to a permit with 19 conditions — the violation of any condition would invalidate the permit — she went public with her story.
Fortunately, here in Minnesota, we have so much support. We have the Emerging Farmers office. I've served on that working group for three and a half years now.
That's the first office of its kind in the nation, and I think it's an invaluable resource for farmers starting out because, as we know, the face of agriculture is changing, and we need to be able to support everybody who wants to come and do this work, because it's hard work. So that's a really great resource. I'm grateful for it.
BONNIE HAUGEN, SPRINGSIDE FARM (CANTON, MINNESOTA)
JIM VANDERPOL, PASTURES A PLENTY (KERKHOVEN, MINNESOTA)
The next segment featured two farmers whose small family livestock operations face steep challenges from Big Ag domination of the nation's livestock, dairy and egg production.
As Shorlette Ammons said in her introduction:
One major challenge family farmers face today is the presence of CAFOs. We know what those are, right, confined animal feeding operations, commonly known as factory farms. These are large scale agricultural operations where animals are kept indoors or in a combined confined space with food and waste concentrated in a small area, often raising environmental concerns about waste management, odor and pollution. They have, by design, pushed thousands of independent family farmers out of business, and they're often deposited in marginalized communities and communities of color.
In the Springside Farm video, Bonnie Haugen said, "When we started milking here in 1993 there were about 12 or 15 dairy farms within a three mile radius of our farm, and now, there's nothing." Husband Vance Haugen added, "I am literally witnessing neighbor after neighbor after neighbor where the lights go out and those folks are gone."
The Haugens noted in the video that their community staged a successful campaign to block a proposed 5,000-sow CAFO. Jim and LeeAnn VanDerPol of Pastures a Plenty have not been that fortunate, noting in their video segment that there are 70,000 cows in a CAFO located very near their farm.
During the interview segment, Bonnie was asked why it's so important to keep CAFOs out of their community. She responded:
That's a lot of parts to that answer, but I'll tick some off when we have too many CAFOs in the community. I'm very concerned about water quality, quantity. I'm very concerned about less kids in the school. I'm very concerned about not enough people for our health care systems. Very concerned about the quality of the food that we're sending out to all of us, all of you today. That's just some of it.
Jim succinctly expressed his view of the importance of supporting independent livestock operations:
It's a way we can go forward doing the work we need to do to produce food for ourselves, and a large number of people actually.
ANGELA DAWSON, FORTY ACRES CO-OP (FALCON HEIGHTS, MINNESOTA)
During her video, Angela discussed her early farming career when, as a Black woman farmer seeking USDA assistance, she faced pushback from a field officer:
I found some land up on Sturgeon Lake, Minnesota and started my first operation of organic hogs, chickens, goats and a CSA. It started out really well, and I learned why some farmers don't make it. When we tried to go to our local office to get support, they didn't really understand our business plan, because we weren't row cropping hundreds of acres of mono crop.
When the agent came out and met me, she was shocked at me, and she did repeatedly ask, 'What brought you here? Why are you here, and what makes you think you can do this?'
The first problem was I was a woman, and she kept asking me, 'Where is your male applicant?' And she did admit that she's never seen a black farmer before in this part of the state...
Every single program that I thought that I was eligible for to be able to get farming help from this person, they denied. I decided that I was going to do something about it, and I filed a complaint, and it ended up that there was a settlement.
This subsequently led Angela to start Forty Acres Co-op:
The Forty Acre Co-op and the Black Farmers Association came together so that we could support more Black farmers, help more people get on the land and stay on the land, and connect them to the resources that they need, or find a way to provide them ourselves, like we have been doing.
Her interview statement was filled with praise for FarmAid:
I'm so honored to be here and to be in the presence of such amazing people who have been trailblazing our issues for such a long time. I have gotten my energy and my drive from the work that people like Willie Nelson have done over the years.
You know, I'm a grandma's baby, and I was raised by my grandma, and I would help her garden, and as we were gardening, we would listen to Willie Nelson music, and people would laugh at her because she was a country gal all the time, listening to country music while everybody else was listening to different kinds of music. And it was what kept us going.
There's stories in his music, and there's there's perseverance and resilience, even in the music. And so that is what has kept us going when it comes to organizing.
I want to thank you for trailblazing and keeping farmers in the front of the American eye, and thank you John [Mellencamp] for supporting [Willie]. Because trailblazers need support. We need people behind us. This is not an easy thing, and I'm thanking you so much for being able to be here with you and share the stage.
HANNAH BERNHARDT, MEDICINE CREEK FARM (FINLAYSON, MINNESOTA)
MOSES MOMANYI, KILIMO MINNESOTA INCUBATOR FARM (LINO LAKES, MINNESOTA)
In her video segment, Hannah explained that she grew up during the 1980s farm crisis and initially couldn't understand why people would choose to farm. But her mind changed as she learned about the opportunities in direct-to-consumer marketing and about the gains made by sustainable/regenerative growers.
During the interview segment, she elaborated:
I'm really excited about the direction that regenerative agriculture is taking us. Farmers of all kinds are learning more about soil health and the importance of taking care of the soil in order for our food... to be healthier. It also is keeping our water cleaner, keeping our air cleaner.
This is a public service to everyone and more and more farmers are realizing that it's not just about our values that that makes us feel good to take care of the land, but it is giving us more power back. We're not having to spend so much money with corporations. We're not at the beck and call and at the prices that they're willing to give us when we can do things on our own and keep our land healthy without their inputs.
So regenerative agriculture and soil health is really what excites me the most, and I see more and more a diversity of new farmers who are getting into agriculture because they are learning about regenerative agriculture.
Moses noted in his video presentation that his family's decision to turn their operation into an incubator for new farmers — who, like him, are of African origin — enabled him to build a community. He expanded on this in his interview:
I grew up on a farm. I always saw people working together. And after buying a farm here, it felt like we were just struggling on our own. We could not share those real experiences.
So the turn of the pandemic, that was when we had all these other people who are doing community gatherings join us, and we were just like, 'You can all live in our house, because we share the land.' And it just felt like unity. It felt like there was power... So being in a network is a way to feel stable, to feel like you're talking to somebody. And I believe it's in everybody, that we are connected to land, and we find peace with land. When we talk to the land, we cultivate the land.
—————————————————
Farm Aid today publicly shared its full 55-minute video recording of the press event. Click below to watch and absorb just how much inspiration it provides.