FARM AID DISTRIBUTES MORE THAN $1.3 MILLION IN 2025 GRANTS

Funding Marks 40 Years of Grantmaking to Strengthen Family Farm Food Systems and Fight Corporate Power

BOSTON, Dec. 8, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- Following the success of its 40th anniversary music and food festival in Minneapolis, Minn., Farm Aid announced today that it will distribute more than $1.3 million in grant funding this year to support family farmers.

Putting the proceeds of its annual festival to work to strengthen family farm agriculture, Farm Aid's End of Year grant program advances the on-the-ground work of farm and food organizations across the country. This year's grantmaking focuses on four issue areas: racial equity; farmer-led solutions to climate change; stopping the growth of industrial agriculture and corporate power; and providing support for farmers experiencing crisis and farm stress.

"These organizations are the heart of the farm movement, with family farmers at the center of their work and leadership. We are so proud and grateful to stand with them," said Farm Aid President and Founder Willie Nelson. "Like Farm Aid, many of these folks have been working since the 1980s to be crucial sources of strength for farmers and rural communities. This is especially important as farmers once again face trying times reminiscent of the crisis that gave rise to Farm Aid and the movement of which we're a part."

This month, Farm Aid distributed End of Year grants totaling $1,146,000 to 106 family farm, rural response and urban agriculture organizations. Farm Aid has committed more than $190,000 through other grantmaking programs, bringing the organization's grantmaking total to more than $1,336,000 for the year.

These grant programs include: 

• More than $60,000 in emergency and disaster grants to individual farmers with the assistance of Farm Aid's Hotline team members.
• $26,500 in disaster grants to organizations providing direct support to farmers in response to climate disasters, such as those that provided vital relief to farmers in the Southeast devastated by Hurricane Helene in late 2024.
• $40,000 in strategic grants to NOFA VT for grassroots efforts to secure emergency relief for farmers impacted by extreme weather events; Liberation Farm to support their advocacy, education and community building to address Black farmland equity, food sovereignty and liberation; Washington Young Farmers Coalition to expand its AgCare Fund, which provides direct aid to farmers and farmworkers to support mental health care; and CCOF to support expansion of the Hardship Assistance Fund beyond California, providing financial assistance to farmers experiencing financial loss due to extreme hardship.
• More than $40,000 in farmer leadership grants for the development of leadership skills among farmers and farmer advocates and the elevation of their voices in decision-making circles.
• More than $20,000 in scholarship funds to support university students majoring in agriculture and related fields.

For a complete listing of Farm Aid's 2025 End of Year grant recipients, visit www.farmaid.org/2025grants.

Farm Aid invested $122,000 in 11 Minnesota-based and regional organizations working throughout the state to advance Farm Aid's 2025 grantmaking priorities. Awardees include Farmers Legal Action Group, The Food Group, Land Stewardship Project, Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy, Dream of Wild Health, Frogtown Farm, Kilimo Minnesota, Meat Processing Bottleneck Project of Minnesota Farmers Union, Midwest Farmers of Color Collective, Sharing Our Roots and the Hmong American Farmers Association.

Farm Aid's grantmaking is just one aspect of its work to keep family farmers on the land, growing good food for all. Other work throughout the year includes efforts to increase demand for family farm food; bring farmers, advocates and activists together to build capacity to change our farm and food system; advocate for policies that serve family farmers and eaters and protect our natural resources; and invite everyone to participate in a thriving family farm system of agriculture.

Farm Aid welcomes donations year-round at farmaid.org/donate.

For updates throughout the year, follow Farm Aid on X (@FarmAid), Bluesky (@farmaid.bsky.social), Facebook (facebook.com/FarmAid), Instagram (@FarmAid) and visit farmaid.org.

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, Dave Matthews and Margo Price 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. Since 1985, Farm Aid, with the support of the artists who contribute their performances each year, has raised more than $85 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.

SOURCE Farm Aid