Fillmore County Farmers Featured at Farm Aid 40

Local farmers, Bonnie and Vance Haugen, take the stage to tell their story

By Julie Fryer and John Gaddo, September 23, 2025

A large screen behind a stage lined with people in chairs shows a womean sitting in a folding chair in her grassy yard.

Canton-area farmer Bonnie Haugen’s video plays on the Farm Aid 40 stage during a press event held before the September 20 concerts got underway. (Photo by Julie Fryer)

MINNEAPOLIS — Willie Nelson, Neil Young and Bob Dylan weren’t the only ones grabbing attention at this year’s Farm Aid 40 in Minneapolis. Also sharing the stage during the 40th anniversary festival held on September 20th were Southeast Minnesota dairy farmers, Bonnie and Vance Haugen.

A woman with short graying hair holds a microphone while sitting on stage next to a man in a black shirt and black cowboy-style hat.

Bonnie Haugen joins the Farm Aid 40 Board on stage to share her experience as a small dairy farmer. (Photo by Julie Fryer)

The Canton-area residents joined other Minnesota farmers to tell their stories in a special event held before the concert opened at the University of Minnesota’s Huntington Bank Stadium. Seated next to Farm Aid founders and board members, Willie Nelson, Neil Young, Dave Matthews, John Mellencamp and Margo Price, Bonnie and others shared the struggles small farms face in today’s economy. (Watch their video presentation here.)

While she focused on making their case for, and explaining the value of, family farms, she also shared a poem she’d written for the occasion. You may recognize some of these familiar phrases. The assembled audience of around 2000 people gave Bonnie a standing ovation for her words.

A woman with a microphone stands on the left side of a long stage while others sitting in chairs on the stage look on.

As Willie Nelson, Neil Young, John Mellencamp and Dave Matthews look on, Bonnie Haugen reads them her original poem that included some familiar lyrics. (Photo by Julie Fryer)

Bonnie Haugen’s Farm Aid 40 Remarks and Poem

I believe that farming is everybody’s bread, butter and water.

What we do on our farm affects water quality and quantity, as well as food for everyone.

Thank you not only for your time and effort on this amazing concert which brings good help to farmers like me . . . us.

Thank you for your songs we are encouraged by while we pull calves, ride in the tractor doing field work, moooove our livestock to a new grazing paddock or drive in our town clothes to another farm meeting.

Your voices and words have inspired, calmed and reminded me that I am not alone. I am rejuvenated by your dreams, music and thoughts.

When I go “On the Road Again”,

I will be buying my childhood farm,

While I am searching for that “Heart of Gold”,

You say “Don’t Drink the Water” because

I am devastated to see the “Rain on the Scarecrow”.

And to bring it home, we know these times, they are a changing.

A man with glasses and a black shirt on the left. Man with a long white beard, wide brimmed cap and long sleeve shirt stand together in a large stadium.

(Left) Minnesota Department of Agriculture Commissioner Thom Peterson with Vance Haugen at Farm Aid 40 in Minneapolis. (Photo courtesy of Thom Peterson)

The Vances have been outspoken supporters and advocates for Midwest family farms for decades. In 1993, they started Springside Farm, a rotational grazing dairy farm, in southern Fillmore County. They have 3 children who have all been a part of the farm, and Olaf has been managing the dairy business since 2011.

Read more about farming in the Driftless at this recent Root River Current article, “Conservation Conversation with Farmer Duane Bakke.”

Badges worn by special attendees of the Farm Aid 40. (Photo by Julie Fryer)

Since its beginnings during the 1985 farm crisis, Farm Aid has raised more than $85 million dollars in their mission to build a vibrant, family farm-centered system of American agriculture.

Farm Aid 40 marked the first ever visit to Minnesota and included a week-long schedule of family farm visits across the state; in person trainings with national and local farmers, legislators and advocates; and included Minnesota-based food, beverage and merchandise vendors plus on-site educational activities coordinated by Minnesota Department of Agriculture and Minnesota Farmers Union.

To learn more about Farm Aid and see more photos and videos from the event, visit here.

Contributors

Julie Fryer

Julie Fryer is a marketing and writing consultant who helps small businesses and nonprofits navigate the digital world. She lives in Chatfield, MN and is an avid gardener, sugarmaker and camper with a full bookshelf of to-be-read books.

John Gaddo

John Gaddo is co-publisher of Root River Current. His professional career has included stints as a public media manager, journalist and audio producer.