Merle Hansen dies; was advocate for family farms, conservation, civil rights, world peace

Merle Elwin Hansen of Newman Grove, Neb., died at 89 on March 27. "He was a farmer, an organizer, a civil rights leader, a conservationist, a conservationist and a peace activist," reports the Daily Yonder. "He was participant and an integral part of the great debates and decisions of the last century." (Photo from Norfolk Daily News)

Among Hansen's many accomplishments were serving as a leader in American Agriculture Movement and helping organize the mid-1970s "Tractorcade" to Washington, D.C. "He helped found the National Family Farm Coalition," the Yonder notes. "He was the ag adviser to Jesse Jackson's presidential campaign in 1984 and '88. He helped with the first Farm Aid concert in 1985." Hansen was also an accomplished farmer, "raising purebred Charolais, starting a fertilizer business, selling seed." (Read more)

For a 1,543-word obituary by John Hansen, apparently a son, in AgObservatory, click here.