Access to food is a fundamental human right, and cutting SNAP hurts everyone.

From our statement on SNAP:

Farm Aid stands with every family facing empty kitchen cupboards and every child with an empty stomach. We stand with every farmer whose livelihood depends on thriving local economies. We stand with movements demanding food, land, and dignity as human rights—not privileges to be negotiated.

Winter CSA season is approaching! Check out the benefits of a CSA membership this time of year: foodprint.org/blog/winter-...

Early birds. New episode today. Can you make it a point to support a family farm? We talked to @farmaid.org about why this is urgently needed. podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/t...

Do yourself a favor and listen to this incredible performance of "Find Yourself" by Lukas Nelson and Sierra Ferrell from Farm Aid 40! youtu.be/nMFXQMCwlEI

Farms selling into local markets have been less affected by tariffs, but may bring in less revenue as cuts to SNAP benefits—and the government pause in SNAP funding—impact their customers.

"I can't even ask questions to my local NRCS office for planning for 2026 because they're not open. I am starting to think, 'are they just going to close forever?' That would be awful." — Wendy Johnson, Iowa farmer

Festivalgoers at Farm Aid 40 gave a lot of thank yous to farmers! [Photos © Scott Streble]

While experts warned mass deportation would result in agricultural labor shortages, Trump officials predicted U.S.-born workers would happily fill those vacant jobs. So far, that hasn’t happened. @skychadde.bsky.social reports via @investigatemidwest.bsky.social:

Nonprofits and mutual aid groups across the country are working to help feed families no longer receiving SNAP benefits due to the government shutdown. Read the full list of resources aimed at helping SNAP recipients navigate lapses in federal funding. ⬇️

Learn how Minnesota's leaders showed up at Farm Aid this year, signaling to farmers and music-lovers around the country that they share our vision of a strong and resilient family farm system of agriculture.

🏛️This government shutdown has gone on long enough! Time for Congress to act responsibly & reopen the federal government!🌱Our farms & communities are counting on it! 🚜National Young Farmers is collecting stories to share w/ policymakers & press.🧺#ShareYourStory youngfarmers.quorum.us/campaign/Fed...

Celebrate the 1 year anniversary of the album by watching the new video for #LostCause! Check it out on YouTube now: youtu.be/RKrNZXzcOb4

Start the month off with Eric Burton (of Black Pumas) making his debut on the Farm Aid stage:

"Due to rising costs, low crop prices and the effects of the trade war, economists project that growers could see roughly $44 billion in net cash income losses from their 2025–26 crops." investigatemidwest.o...

Two years past the current Farm Bill's original expiration date, the future of the next Farm Bill is still unclear. In a new Q&A, IATP's Michael Happ explains what we know, what we don't, and what might be coming next: www.iatp.org/farm-bill-qa...

This is What Democracy Looks Like: Minnesota Activism was a panel of MN-based farmers and advocates. Reginaldo Haslett-Marroquin, Zoe Hollomon, and Paul Sobocinski spoke about activism and solutions specific to Minnesota's food and farming system.

ICYMI - Among the many shutdown casualties is the Packers and Stockyards division. It's the latest blow to ag antitrust enforcement after USDA canceled its Farmer Seed Liaison cooperative agreement early last month.

With "a very sizable ag disaster program given what's going on with interest rates still high, soybean market, low commodity prices, high input costs from the compound of inflation...We're hearing from our banks that ag producers are under a lot of stress." www.agriculture.com/partners-ban...

This panel featured a group of Native leaders and advocates: Shelley Buck, Sean Sherman and Luke Black Elk and was moderated by Kari Jo Lawrence. They talked about how democracy is an Indigenous value and way of being. They also stressed the importance of food sovereignty for Native communities.

🗞️The #shutdown is leaving farmers in limbo. W/ major conservation & climate‐smart agriculture funds frozen, many small & mid-sized farms face cancelled projects, stalled payments & mounting uncertainty. Good piece on the risks to landscapes & livelihoods⬇️ www.lancasterfarming.com/farming-news...

"One Illinois man's decadeslong fight to convert his fields into rice paddies demonstrates how it's possible to bring diversity to the Corn Belt, but improbable so long as federal farm policy remains focused on soybeans and corn."

Check out our recap with videos and quotes from Seeding Democracy, From Our Fields to Our Future, our farmer forum on Sept. 19. Even before the event began, the mood within the Farm Aid community was one of celebration and excitement.

We're excited and proud to announce that our podcast, Against the Grain, has joined the Heritage Radio Network — the only podcast network dedicated to food, beverages and the culinary world.

"We have one billion bushels of soybeans that don't have a home. So many [U.S.] farmers are hurting now," John Bartman, a fifth-generation farmer in Marengo, said. "This is a man-made disaster caused by Donald Trump and his administration."

The second-to-last episode of our ~iconic~ podcast just dropped and I think it's our best yet! Host Sarah Mock dives deep into how challenging it is for aspiring farmers to find and buy land. Also: Why is this happening? Well worth a listen: ambrook.com/offrange/pod...

Raises the question, why did USDA close these offices when apparently they had a choice.

We're posting Farm Aid 40 videos to our YouTube channel. Check out this version of "Maggie's Farm" by @missmargoprice.bsky.social, @billystrings.com and Jesse Welles: youtu.be/upBctkGP8FE

“.. Farm-state Republicans on Capitol Hill are privately and publicly livid .. “.. ‘At a fundamental level, this looks like a betrayal of America first principles,’ said one GOP senator ..” @politico.com www.politico.com/live-updates...

27% of farmers & ranchers rely on the #ACA - more than triple the national average. We join our farmer members in calling for an immediate resumption of government services and the extension of ACA tax credits. #agsky #healthcare READ MORE ➡️ tinyurl.com/3cfeuacy

We are celebrating our 6th annual virtual Food Justice Film Festival Oct. 23-26. Watch four award-winning documentaries that highlight indigenous food sovereignty, BIPOC land reclamation and agricultural heritage, food access, and more. It's free and open to all! Register today ➡️ bit.ly/3ICIt0o

We're still thinking about the things that made Farm Aid 40 last month so special. Farmers, artists, advocates and music fans come together to raise awareness about the challenges and opportunities farmers face, but they all celebrated together with music, activities and events.

Farmers Push Legislators to Keep California Animal Welfare Law on the Books Read more from the Food Policy Tracker ➡️ buff.ly/MNAiUQQ

Food banks had scheduled 94mil(!) pounds of food deliveries through a government program that buys meat, dairy, eggs and produce from American farmers and sends them to help people in need. Trump’s USDA abruptly canceled those deliveries. projects.propublica.org/trump-food-c...

"I think our industry is in real trouble until we start enforcing antitrust laws and breaking up concentrated power. You cannot let Walmart control the supply chain." — Mike Callicrate, owner of Ranch Direct Foods in Colorado Springs, CO and an advocate for family farms

@willienelsonmusic.bsky.social launched @farmaid.org in 1985 as a fundraiser to save family farms. With corporate consolidation a continuing threat to farms, it’s now a platform for populist organizing, too. Read more from Senior Staff Reporter @lisaelaineh.bsky.social. ⬇️

Join us Oct. 16 at 2 p.m. ET for RAFI’s webinar on crop planning — with insights from Happy Dirt and Lee’s One Fortune Farm. Learn how to plan diverse, profitable crops that meet market demand. 🌱 Register:https://www.rafiusa.org/events/webinar-crop-planning/ #Farmers #CropPlanning #FoodSystem

"How much soy we produce shouldn’t be a barometer for how well our agriculture sector is doing, but for how unsustainable it is." I wrote for @newrepublic.com that the trade war with China shows we grow too many crops to feed not people but factory-farmed animals. newrepublic.com/article/2014...

To guide you as you sample your way through the season’s countless apple varieties, here’s a look at some apples old and new, and a peek at some that are still to come: foodprint.org/blog/from-lu...

In this video, @willienelsonmusic.bsky.social is joined by farmers and farm advocates to describe the inspiration for the first Farm Aid concert, which took place in 1985. youtu.be/Ri5BQSFgO9c

We were very proud to learn this week that Farm Aid 40, which took place last month in Minneapolis, was the first-ever Zero Waste event at Huntington Bank Stadium! That means we reached a 90% diversion rate. In these photos, hay bales are donated to a local farmer:

Two of the biggest players in the highly concentrated beef sector settle price-fixing charges, after consumers accused Tyson and Cargill of conspiring to inflate U.S. beef prices by restricting supply. www.producer.com/daily/tyson-...

I may be on furlough as a fed, but that doesn't mean the work of #FarmtoSchool stops cold!! Spent the morning volunteering and teaching local students how to butcher and process farm-raised chickens.

Ag conservation practices can help. We found that adopting the four best conservation practices on just 1% of continuous corn acres each in the four states would reduce total greenhouse gas emissions at an amount that would be like taking over 850,000 cars off the road. See report for more info. 4/4

The biggest corn harvest in U.S. history should be good news—but it’s not. In this blog, I crunched the numbers on how much overproduction is bankrupting farmers, burdening taxpayers, and battering the environment. blog.ucs.org/kathryn-ande...

We looked into the backgrounds of the most prominent individuals currently working on food and agriculture within federal agencies. What follows is the first full accounting of those individuals’ past and present links to corporations.

The roadmap initially established a goal of allocating 25% of funds in 2022, followed by 40% of funds in 2024, to those small and mid-sized farmers historically left out of opportunities in the food system. ... Last year, 100% of grant funding went to these prioritized farmers, up from 84% in 2022.

We were honored to join the podcast The Grazing Groove ("where the rhythms of farm life meet the melodies of live music, hosted from the heart of Roberts Family Farm in Sandwich, Illinois"), when our Co-Executive Director Jennifer Fahy was interviewed.

The Trump administration made two changes to the federal farm guestworker program that will make it easier for farms to bring seasonal workers in from other countries and allow them to pay those workers less.