FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
March 21, 2019
FARM AID CONTACT:
Brittany Vanderpool
(202) 248-5487
bvanderpool@vancomm.com
Farm Aid Activates its Family Farm Disaster Fund in Response to Devastating Midwest Floods
Organization to issue emergency grants in support of family farm relief efforts on the ground in the Midwest
CAMBRIDGE, Mass. — As farmers and ranchers in the Midwest deal with the impact of historic flooding, Farm Aid has activated its Family Farm Disaster Fund to provide aid to family farmers in the affected region.
“Farm Aid knows farmers and ranchers are being devastated by floods in the Midwest. We invite everyone to join us by donating to support farmers as they try to save their homes and businesses,” said Farm Aid President Willie Nelson. “We’ve heard from farmers that they can’t wait the months it takes for disaster assistance to come. We have too few family farms left to lose even one to a weather disaster.”
For more than three decades, Farm Aid has stepped in quickly after natural disasters, responding immediately to assist farmers and ranchers specifically. Farm Aid’s relief efforts will focus on the family farmers and ranchers who have lost their barns, livestock, crops, fields, pasture and other essential farm infrastructure. Record rainfall, flooding and wind damage have left farmers under standing water at a time when they are already struggling due to low prices and farm and trade policies that cause extreme financial, legal and emotional stress. Every dollar raised by the Family Farm Disaster Fund will support local and regional organizations working on the ground to distribute emergency grants to farm families affected by the flooding in the Midwest and to offer resources that help farmers navigate their farm recovery options.
Farm Aid grants will support Midwest farm organizations coordinating locally to:
- Make emergency grants to farm and ranch families;
- Help farmers and ranchers understand their farm recovery options;
- Support local and state farm service providers to help farmers navigate recovery options, from mental health resources to federal funding opportunities; and
- Advocate for needed disaster recovery funds and resources from the federal government.
Farm Aid is also working with partners in disaster-affected areas to determine the long-term needs of impacted farmers and ranchers. If you are a farmer who has been affected by the Midwest flooding, please visit farmaid.org/disaster for a list of resources available. To donate, please visit farmaid.org/disasterfund.
Farm Aid’s mission is to build a vibrant, family farm-centered system of agriculture in America. Farm Aid artists and board members Willie Nelson, Neil Young, John Mellencamp and Dave Matthews host an annual festival to raise funds to support Farm Aid’s work with family farmers and to inspire people to choose family farm food. For more than 30 years, Farm Aid, with the support of the artists who contribute their performances each year, has raised more than $53 million to support programs that help farmers thrive, expand the reach of the Good Food Movement, take action to change the dominant system of industrial agriculture and promote food from family farms.
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