Clue No. 1 reads: “Your state feeling left out? This year’s concert will be in a city & state where Farm Aid has never been held!”

Okay, since 1985, Farm Aid has been held in Illinois (1985), Texas (1986), Nebraska (1987), Indiana (1990, 2001), Texas (1992), Iowa (1993), Louisiana (1994), Kentucky (1995), South Carolina (1996), Illinois (1997,1998, 2005), Virginia (1999,2000), Pennsylvania (2002), Ohio (2003), Washington (2004), New Jersey (2006), New York (2007) and Massachusetts (2008).

Plus, in 1989, Willie Nelson took Farm Aid out on the road for 16 shows as part of his tour. (I’m still working on tracking down the locations of those shows.)

That leaves Alaska, Hawaii, North Carolina, Florida, Vermont, Maine, North Dakota, South Dakota, Oregon, California, West Virginia, Rhode Island, Michigan, Utah, New Mexico, Arizona, Wisconsin, Alabama, Arkansas, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Georgia, Kansas, Idaho, Maryland, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nevada, New Hampshire, Oklahoma, Tennessee and Wyoming.

And that’s still a pretty wide playing field, but the second hint from organizers really narrows things down.

Clue No. 2 reads: “This year’s concert will be in a state that is in the top 12 for number of farms!”

This one took some research, but I managed to find a 2007 list of the number of farms by state on the U.S. Department of Agriculture website.

Assuming the numbers haven’t changed drastically since then, the top 12 states (in order) are: Texas, Missouri, Iowa, Kentucky, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Minnesota (actually tied with Tennessee), Wisconsin, Ohio, California, Illinois and Kansas.

Eliminating the states where Farm Aid has been already, that leaves seven (also in order by number of farms): Missouri, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Minnesota, Wisconsin, California and Kansas.

So, what do you think? Which of these is the most likely place to hold Farm Aid this year?

The gang here at Pollstar is pulling for California. Our lovely headquarters is located in Fresno, which is smack-dab in the center of the state’s central valley (often called the “breadbasket of America.”)

Oh, and if anyone out there knows the locations of those 16 shows in 1989, let me know.

For more clues, follow Farm Aid on Twitter here.