Stage Set for Fourth Farm Aid Benefit Concert

Bob Geldof, asked after the Live Aid concert in 1985 if he intended to put on a Live Aid II for Ethiopian famine relief, said he hoped not because that would mean the first one had failed.

Farm Aid, the organization benefiting American farmers founded by Willie Nelson, Neil Young and John Mellencamp at the height of the pop charity wave in 1985, is holding its fourth concert event Saturday at the Hoosier Dome in Indianapolis.

Has Farm Aid failed three times?

“I think so,” admitted Nelson, who once again heads a vast and varied lineup for the sold-out concert at the 45,000-seat stadium. “As far as solving the problem, it’s still there. The farmer still doesn’t get enough money for what he does. So in that respect, yeah, we failed, except for the fact that the money we got went into the hands of people who were in trouble. In that respect we’ve been successful.

“People say, ‘I thought the farm crisis was over. I thought Farm Aid took care of that.’ But it still costs a farmer $3 to raise a bushel of corn and he still gets $2.50 for it. We’ve got the best farmers in the world, so why are we trying to put them out of business?”

Carolyn Mugar, executive director of Farm Aid, agreed. “We’d like to be able to close our doors,” she said from the organization’s Cambridge, Mass., headquarters. “But if we do, it’s a signal that the farm crisis is over, and it isn’t.”

Of the $12.2 million Farm Aid has raised, Mugar said, virtually all has come directly from the concerts and from pledges called in by viewers during the events’ telecasts. Like the previous three concerts, Saturday’s 12-hour marathon will feature a mix of country, rock and pop performers ranging from Nelson to Don Henley and Bruce Hornsby to hard rockers Guns N’ Roses to rapper LL Cool J. The show will be telecast in its entirety on The Nashville Network cable channel beginning at 9 a.m. Pacific time.

“We’ve granted more than $9 million to organizations in 41 states,” Mugar said. “About a quarter of our grant money goes for emergency needs through a network of state ecumenical agencies connected with food pantries and emergency organizations.

“About 11% has gone to legal assistance, for legal education and advocacy. And we fund 38 hot lines that deal with everything from suicide crisis calls to credit referrals, legal issues and health care.”