Farm Aid 2008 Press Conference Coverage

Farm Aid Concert Coming To Mansfield
Benefit Features Mellencamp, Young, Nelson, Matthews
BOSTON (WBZ) ― Farm Aid, the nation's longest-running benefit concert, will be held this year in New England for the first time.

John Mellencamp scheduled a news conference with Gov. Deval Patrick Tuesday to announce that this year's show will be held Sept. 20 at the Comcast Center in Mansfield.

"I'm surprised that we hadn't played here," Mellencamp said. "It just made sense. The office is here. Everything comes outta here, so the conversation was like, we should be playing Boston."

Among the headliners for the Mansfield concert will be Farm Aid co-founders Mellencamp, Willie Nelson, and Neil Young. Dave Matthews, who joined the Farm Aid board in 2001 is also scheduled to take part. The full lineup has not been confirmed.

"I'm going to personally call James Taylor and make him come," Mellencamp said.

Last year's show in New York City featured more than 20 acts, including the Allman Brothers, Counting Crows and Guster.

Farm Aid is based locally in Somerville and benefits family farms.

According to Steve Long from the Nature Conservancy in Boston, Massachusetts has lost 10 percent of its farms over the last 20 years, representing 100,000 acres of land.

Since its first concert in 1985, Farm Aid has raised more than $30 million to benefit small farms.

Press Conference Video: