June 25 (UPI) -- Chris Stapleton, Dave Matthews and Neil Young are among the few artists announced for Willie Nelson's 2018 Farm Aid concert that is set to take place in Hartford, Conn.
Nelson will also be taking the stage alongside Kacey Musgraves with John Mellencamp, Sturgill Simpson, Margo Price, Nathaniel Rateliff & The Night Sweats, Lukas Nelson & Promise of the Real and Particle Kid also set to perform.
The 33rd annual event will be taking place at the Xfinity theater in Hartford on Sept. 22 with tickets set to go on sale on June 29at 10 a.m. ET through Live Nation. Addiotnal acts will be announced at a later date.
Farm Aid has raised $53 million for grants to help family farmers since being introduced in 1985.
"Family farmers are the backbone of our country," Nelson said in a statement. "But today, they are endangered. Whether we live in cities like Hartford or the rural areas of New England, each of us has the power to create positive, lasting change in our farm and food system and strengthen farm families to help them stay on the land for generations to come."
"The crisis farmers are in now is even worse than 1985, because there are fewer farms left to lose," Mellencamp said. "Family farmers are becoming an endangered species. They have a whole system stacked against them, and time is running out for Americans to demand a fairer playing field. Farm Aid 2018 has to be a rallying cry for all of us to stand up and fight for these families."