Oh, Manchester, So Much To Answer For

God bless Willie, Neil, and John (and, newly, Dave) for continuing Farm Aid each and every year. It's the benefit that, since 1985, tends to fly under most folks' collective radar (especially considering there was no TV broadcast this year - what's up with that, CMT?), but it appears that this year's concert was just as superb as all that came before it. As someone who grew up on a small farm (64 acres, about 100 head of cows, and occasionally some pigs as well), I know firsthand how hard it is for independent farmers to make it - we were eternally in debt, barely getting by for all of my youth, and it's a testament to my parents that I never knew, growing up, that we lived under the poverty line (especially for a family of six). Without much publicity, and since it's not a "sexy" cause, Farm Aid can only do so much (in 2001, Farm Aid gave out about $350,000). But every little bit counts, and Misters Nelson, Young, Mellencamp, and Matthews understand the importance of the small family farm in America. I'll always respect them, and every artist who's ever played at a Farm Aid concert (yes, even Trick Pony), for the simple fact that they're trying to do something for those farmers across this great nation of ours.