Are farmers raking in the dough? Newsletter

From: Farm Aid
Date: Tue, Apr 12, 2011 at 11:34 AM

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) and headlines across the country declare boom times for America's farmers as a result of high prices for corn, soy, wheat and cotton. And yet, the Farm Aid hotline continues to ring with farmers seeking financial advice and credit counseling. Why? Because the truth is, high crop prices don't mean that all farmers are raking in the dough.

Read the whole story of in this month's Ask Farm Aid. And have you ever wondered how much farmers get from every dollar you spend at the grocery store? Click here to find out.

Meet Corky Jones, a "lifetime farmer" from Nebraska, who's been helping us understand the issues facing family farmers since he met with Willie Nelson, Neil Young and other organizers before the first Farm Aid concert in 1985.

Learn more about Corky >>

We've been reading a lot about high farm prices lately. Seems like farmers are doing really well right now—we've even heard they're getting rich. What's the scoop?

It's true that many farmers (particularly those growing corn, wheat, cotton and soybeans) are seeing high prices for their goods. Last month, corn prices hit $5.66 per bushel, up 59% from a year ago, and some analysts are predicting that corn farmers will receive record-breaking prices for their crop this year. Wheat prices reached $7.40 per bushel in January, up 51% from a year before.

With such jumps in prices, it's no wonder that people assume farmers are rollin' in the dough. But, is it true? Are farmers getting so rich that we should close up shop here at Farm Aid?

Read the rest in this month's Ask Farm Aid >>

Take a quiz on which foods pay farmers most and find out how much of your food dollar goes to the farmers who grow it.

Read the story here >>

Warm weather means concert season and that's true at the Farm Aid office too! We're busy planning this year's show and will announce details to everyone on our email list as soon as we can. Stay tuned!

In the meantime, our artist board members have all announced tour dates for this summer. Click on each name to see their scheduled performances: Willie Nelson, Neil Young, John Mellencamp and Dave Matthews.

P.S. What we've been up to since our last newsletter...

On our blog, we started a couple fun ways to start and end the work week. For Farm Aid Music Mondays, we're digging through our archives and posting videos from past concerts, like this one of Neil Young from Farm Aid II in 1986. And we've also started highlighting more farmer heroes on Farmer Hero Friday. Last week, Matt paid tribute to Jeanne Charter, a Farmer Hero from Montana that recently passed away. In happier news, Cornelia wrote an update on what's going on at HOMEGROWN.org, including a new partnership with Mother Earth News called The HOMEGROWN Bookshelf.

Visit our blog to read more of the latest updates>>

Warm weather's finally here! Take off your jackets and show off a Farm Aid 25 t-shirt! Only $10 during our Spring Sale. Click here to check out everything in our store.