By theruralprogressive
The Great Depression: Early Farm Loan Programs Exclude Black Farmers
During the Great Depression, the Agricultural Adjustment Act of 1933 offered farmers subsidies in exchange for limiting their production of certain crops, but the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) allowed white landowners to keep government benefit payments from the rather than passing them on to Black farmers who sharecropped on their land. At the same time, the Federal Emergency Relief Administration granted a disproportionate amount of funds to white farmers, leaving Black farmers vulnerable. In 1937, President Franklin Roosevelt created the Farm Security Administration as part of the New Deal, but Black farmers received disproportionately fewer rehabilitation and tenant-purchase loans through that agency. Similarly, discriminatory county supervisors consistently excluded Black farmers from many USDA programs.
1980s-2010s: The Pigford Lawsuits
In the 1980s and 1990s, the federal government acknowledged the USDA’s discriminatory practices in a number of reports. Yet the USDA frequently failed to investigate individual discrimination claims.
Black farmers, including Timothy Pigford, ultimately filed class action lawsuits in response to this persistent discrimination. A $1 billion settlement was negotiated in 1999, which was expanded in 2011. Yet many class members encountered significant obstacles in obtaining relief. Most of the claimants received payouts of $50,000 or less, just 10% of what the average mid-sized farm spends in a year. Overall, less than three percent of claimants (425 people total) received debt relief as part of Pigford.
Unfortunately, the USDA’s problematic practices continued even after the Pigford settlement. The agency continued to fail to process discrimination claims in a timely manner and foreclosed on farmers with pending complaints.
2020s: Ongoing Disparities and the Delayed Promise of the American Rescue Plan Act
Black farmers still struggle to access USDA programs. In 2022, the USDA granted direct loans to only 36 percent of applicant farmers who identified as Black, according to an NPR analysis of USDA data. Sixteen percent of Black farmers were rejected—the highest amount for all demographic groups. In contrast, 72 percent of white farmers who applied were approved and only 4 percent of white farmers were denied.
As a result of the dogged advocacy of Black farmers, the American Rescue Plan Act, which became law in March 2021, included targeted debt relief payments to “socially disadvantaged farmers,” including Black farmers. Unfortunately, several courts issued preliminary injunctions against the program, blocking this relief.
Today, Black farmers continue to struggle financially and their farms remain at risk. According to the Center for American Progress, full-time Black farmers today earn one-seventh of the farm income that white farmers earn. A study by McKinsey similarly found that Black farmers are also more likely to generate a net loss, be given a long-term production contract, and operate on less land than white farmers.
Some Black farmers also do not have clear title to their land. Forty percent of land owned by Black farmers is heirs’ property, which is defined as land passed down between generations without a formal will or title.