Black farmers discuss new USDA discrimination assistance program

Back in the 1980s, then-Allendale farmer Cleveland Washington was struggling. An FSA agent had just put him in a custodial account, a type of loan that was historically used to control and discriminate against Black farmers. Washington couldn’t get the money he needed on time for his farming schedule, causing him to default on his loan. His credit was damaged, he was put out of business and the course of his life was changed.

“It was depressing,” Washington recalls, now 82 years old. “My father was farming all his life and I came into farming through him. I ended up losing everything except my father’s land.”

For farmers, credit is the lifeblood of their industry that helps them acquire land, plant, harvest and buy equipment. Washington is one of many Black farmers in South Carolina and the United States who lost land, wealth and a way of life as a result of racist lending practices within the United States Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Farm Service Agency (FSA). Through loan applications, court cases and litigation, these patterns of discrimination have become more understood by the USDA in recent years. This legacy persists amongst rural Black communities today, particularly in the south, where a former farmer is easier to find than an active farmer.

“From their inception, at every level of the organization, there has been systemic discrimination [in the USDA],” said Najmah Thomas, vice president of the South Carolina Black Farmers Coalition (SCBFC). “It's not a story. It's not an accusation. It is documented through litigation.”

However, Washington may be able to get back some of what he lost. Deep within the 755-page Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 is Section 22007, which authorizes the creation of a Discrimination Financial Assistance Program within the USDA. The program sets aside $2.2 billion for farmers who can prove they experienced discrimination in the FSA’s loan process prior to Jan. 1, 2021.

On November 14, Thomas and SCBFC president Daryl Orage met with Black farmers from across South Carolina in Allendale to help them understand the program and navigate the application process.

Although the Black population in the United States has quadrupled since 1920, the number of Black farmers has fallen from 949,889 in 1920 to 48,697, according to recent USDA data. A large reason was because FSA agents would give Black farmers smaller loans, loans with higher interest rates or deny loans entirely. Or farmers like Washington would receive the money from the lender past the date when they could grow, causing them to be unable to farm. These practices sunk farmers into debt and put them out of business, as documented by multiple successful discrimination suits.

In order to be approved for the program, farmers have to provide documents proving discrimination, or share their story with the USDA. If they can prove that they experienced lending discrimination, they can receive up to $500,000, depending on how much they lost as a result of the discrimination. The initial application deadline was October 31, 2023, however the deadline was recently extended to January 13, 2024.

Orage acknowledged that for many farmers, documentation of discrimination in the past may not exist. These documents include things like farm numbers and loan denial letters. However, the USDA is also accepting applications from farmers without documentation.

“Someone may say ‘I don’t have any records. I wanted to apply [for a loan] but I was discouraged before even walking in the door,’” Orage said. “You can still apply if that’s your case. Tell your story.”

Thomas, Orage and the USDA have said that the program does not aim to make up for the entire losses that Black farmers have historically experienced; between 1920 and 1997, Black farmers lost $326 billion in land. The program is also not just for Black farmers as women, gay people, veterans, Native Americans, poor farmers and immigrants also experienced discrimination in the farm loan process.

As Black farmers lost their farms and their land, large agricultural companies grew in power and influence, changing the farming industry across the country. As small farmers went out of business in the end of the 20th century, large farms got larger, and rented the land of former farmers, like Washington. As Washington exited the farming business, he lost the land he had bought, and mortgaged his father’s land in Allendale and rented it out.

The USDA’s program applies to people who directly carry the burdens of the discrimination, such as in wealth losses and generational debt. Under the program, Allendale resident Esther Manuel, whose late father was a farmer in Martin who she says experienced lending discrimination when an FSA agent took advantage of his lack of education.

“A fire destroyed his home [and he had to] relocate,” Manuel said. “I know that he wanted to buy this tract of land, but for some reason he was denied.”

Ether said she was frustrated, but glad that she understood the limits of the program. Although farmers like Washington may be able to get back some of what was lost, the program does not aim to address everything that happened to Black farmers in the past.

“USDA has recognized the problem, they have acknowledged the problem, and they are trying to fix it going forward so that when you walk through FSA, you don't face discriminatory practices,” Thomas said. “They are not saying we're gonna fix the wrong that your dad and my granddaddy, his granddaddy [experienced]. We know what they went through.”