All family farmers, no matter where they live or the color of their skin, work hard and overcome never-ending challenges to put food on the tables of American families. Because of discrimination, Black farmers and other farmers of color have unfair obstacles. Black farmers are more likely to be denied USDA support and private bank loans. Racism has pushed farmers into debt and forced many to give up farming entirely. To ensure small farmers have the opportunity to continue, we need to create protections for Black, Indigenous, and people of color farmers. The alternative is big business as usual which will lead to the loss of farmland, weakening of local economies, and disruption of supply chains. We all benefit when we support small farmers to sustain their businesses.
Champion Farmer Equity & Justice for Black Farmers
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The U.S. is built on a long history of disenfranchisement and land theft, which continues to have significant repercussions today. The legalized enslavement of Black people built the U.S. economy, and yet, with few exceptions, formerly enslaved people and their descendants have seen little of the country’s wealth. In fact, gains in land ownership by Black Southerners following the Civil War were erased over the following century, mostly through threats, violence, and systemic discrimination, including by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) itself. In 1910, Black farmers accounted for 20 percent of farmers; by 2017, that number had dropped to 1.3 percent. Black land ownership has plummeted by 98 percent in the last century, with most of the loss occurring not in the late 1800s, but just since the 1950s.
In the last few years, policy efforts have been introduced at the federal and state levels to address this long legacy of harm. The federal Justice for Black Farmers Act is a landmark proposal that would address access to land, training, credit, and much more for Black and other socially disadvantaged farmers, along with systemic changes to level the playing field for all farmers. State policymakers across the country have drawn on parts of this legislation to craft a variety of state-level reforms. Working toward restorative justice is important in all legislative decisions.
Policy Priorities
- Federal: Passing the Justice for Black Farmers Act would establish a federal land grant and farm apprenticeship program to support a new generation of Black farmers, expand access to credit, and direct USDA to end historical discrimination.
In the historic American Rescue Plan Act, congress recognized the long history of discrimination in USDA lending. Nearly $5 billion was appropriated to forgive loans for BIPOC farmers, launch an equity commission and ramp up outreach to historically underserved communities. When this policy was blocked by conservative activist organizations and judges Congressional champions went back to work and amended the law to ensure distressed borrowers didn’t lose their farms and farmers who have faced discrimination get relief.
The USDA formed an Equity Commission to address past and present discrimination.
- Federal: The Increasing Land Access, Security, and Opportunity Act would make permanent, expand, and authorize new funding for the Biden administration’s Increasing Land, Capital, and Market Access Program at USDA.
- State: The Partition of Heirs Property Act can be an important protection for Black landowners against a forced or predatory sale.
- State: Farmer equity legislation.
- State: Black farmer and Black land ownership restoration.
State Examples
- Nineteen states have enacted the Partition of Heirs Property Act. Kentucky (2021 KY SB 43) is one of several other states considering passage.
- North Carolina (2021 NC SB 694) and South Carolina (2021 SC HB 3543) lawmakers have proposed legislation to restore agricultural land to Black farmers.
- Washington (2021 WA HB 1395) passed a law directing state agencies to ensure inclusion of historically underrepresented and socially disadvantaged farmers in programming.
- California (2019 CA AB 986) created a program to provide grants to socially disadvantaged farmers, including Native tribes, to acquire agricultural land.
- Maine passed a law (2021 ME HP 5) to ensure the inclusion of racial impact statements in the legislative process.
- Illinois (2021 IL HB 3089) lawmakers are considering a proposal to require that 20 percent of food purchased by state agencies be produced by socially disadvantaged farmers.