Dear John,

Farmers have the extremely important job of growing our food and fiber and stewarding America’s land. They also face unique challenges: tight economic conditions, extreme weather events, highly consolidated markets and – for Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) farmers, historic inequity that stacks the cards against them.

Because of their important role, farmers receive support from the federal government through crop insurance, commodity and disaster assistance programs – this support is known as the “farm safety net." This is particularly important at a time when the newest Census of Agriculture has revealed troubling statistics about the declining number of U.S. farms, the lack of a diverse farmer population (95% of farmers are white), and the growing age of the average farmer (nearly four out of every 10 farmers are over the age of 65).

If we’re going to ensure a sustainable farm and food system going forward, we need more farmers on the land, including new and young farmers and a diversity of farmers growing a diversity of crops. Learn the seven ways we think we can accomplish these goals and how you can help.

For the last two years, Reana Kim of Share a Seed – a mutual aid organization dedicated to growing community by sharing seeds and gardening resources – has led the Farm Aid Seed Swap in the HOMEGROWN Skills Tent. This swap provides an opportunity for Farm Aid festival-goers to connect over their love for seeds and plants, learn interesting seed history and growing techniques and of course take home a very special memento from the festival.

Watch this video to get a glimpse of what the Farm Aid Seed Swap looks like and read our blog post about seed sharing to learn more.

We'll soon be retiring the Farm Aid 2023 merch, so head over to our store to buy it before it's gone. Also, we've put together some fun merch bundles that come with a discount!

We've added a quarterly newsletter to our Farmer Resource Network offerings. This email is filled with updates, grant opportunities and news from our Farmer Services team. If you're a farmer, be sure to sign up for this new newsletter and take a look at the first issue.

We've been monitoring the wildfire situation in Texas. If you're a farmer or rancher affected by the Texas Panhandle’s largest wildfire ever, please know that the folks here at Farm Aid are thinking of you. As you prepare for recovery, a few critical steps will position you to fully benefit from your insurance claims and USDA disaster assistance programs as they come online. We've compiled a list of resources to help in the process of recovery. And, never hesitate to call our Hotline Team at 1-800-FARM-AID.