Governor Thompson and Willie Nelson

Governor James "Big Jim" Thompson met Willie Nelson at the Illinois State Fair, where they bonded over a shared love of chili and golfing. As the conversation turned toward Willie's idea for Farm Aid, Thompson was quick to propose the recently renovated Memorial Stadium at the University of Illinois as an ideal location for the concert.

As Governor, Thompson was sympathetic to the plight of farmers in the 1980s:

“... [farm communities] knew that I understood the pain they were going through, and that I was doing everything possible to help them. You’ll recall that I said I took the recession and made it one of my rallying points with my re-election slogan, ‘A tough leader for tough times,’ and there was no sugar-coating it or glossing it over."

Although Thompson had thoughts on how to address the national farm crisis, he did little to address the issue in Illinois. He felt that most farm policy had to do with the federal government and was therefore out of his jurisdiction. Instead, he focused on bringing manufacturing to the state, which he felt would bolster the agriculture industry. Nevertheless, Thompson was proud of the Illinois farm community and expressed this through his collaboration with Willie Nelson to bring Farm Aid to Champaign-Urbana.