Wendell Berry, Agrarian Writer and Champion of Small Farms, Dies at 92

Wendell Berry, the influential writer, farmer and environmentalist whose work became a touchstone for the sustainable agriculture movement, died Aug. 31 at his home in Port Royal, Kentucky. He was 92. Berry farmed land that had been in his family for seven generations, returning to rural Kentucky after an early academic career that included teaching at New York University.

Across more than 50 books of poetry, fiction and essays, Berry argued against industrialized farming, chemical-intensive agriculture and an economic system that separated people from the land that feeds them. His 1977 book The Unsettling of America became one of the seminal critiques of modern agribusiness, while his broader work championed small family farms, local food systems, healthy soil and strong rural communities.

His central argument—that agriculture is not merely an industry but a relationship among land, farmers and communities—has only grown more relevant as consolidation and industrialization have reshaped the food system.

Read more: https://www.npr.org/2026/09/01/1139228585/wendell-berry-obituary