Cowboy entertainer Michael Martin Murphey will headline a March 18 concert in Pueblo to benefit farmers and ranchers in southeast Colorado hard hit by winter blizzards.

"He actually approached us," said Troy Bredenkamp, executive vice president of the Colorado Farm Bureau, one of the organizations planning the concert. "He said he would love to do a concert for our farmers and ranchers."

The Operation Blizzard Benefit will also feature country entertainers Baxter Black, Waddie Mitchell and Don Edwards.

The goal of the program, which will be at 7:30 p.m. at the Events Center on the Colorado State Fairgrounds, is to raise at least $500,000, Bredenkamp said. About half is to be raised through ticket sales and half through corporate donations.

Other than $20,000 to underwrite the concert, "All the proceeds raised will go directly to famers and ranchers," Bredenkamp said.

A committee made up of representatives from the 10 counties hit by the disastrous storms will allocate the funds, he said.

Tickets are $25, $35 and, for a VIP package with a steak dinner, $150.

Tickets, information or donations: www.blizzardbenefit.com