"Rolling Stone," November 7, 1985

High interest rates on loans and declining farm income destabilized the farm economy during the 1980s. Heavily mortgaged farmers lost everything, and suicide rates escalated. Recording artists Willie Nelson, John Cougar Mellencamp and Neil Young joined with other singers to stage the first Farm Aid concert at the University of Illinois on 22 September 1985. Rolling Stones covered the concert in its November 7 issue.