Black Farmers in America: Will there be a resurgence?
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By Keith Edmonds
Of Fort Wayne Ink Spot
How often do you think of Black farmers when it comes to food production? In researching the subject, I found many reasons why farmers of color are disappearing at a rapid rate not only in modern times but throughout history. The question is: “What is being done to address this issue, and how will the election of Joe Biden change the future for black farmers?”
In an attempt to make up for decades of discrimination, the Biden administration is forgiving loans to farmers of color. But Black farmers and their advocates say that plan, while welcome, will not fix the ongoing problem that the loan program is biased from start to finish. Last year, 71% of loan applications from white farmers were accepted; black farmers had just 37% of loans granted. A grant program to help farm producers ride out the coronavirus pandemic showed that farmers of color received less than 1% of the payments even though they are 5% percent of all farmers, which in itself is alarming and helps explain why this group is diminishing.
Black farmers have long been overlooked when it comes to government assistance and addressing barriers such as loan terms that favor large corporate farms, as well as complex application processes and poor service and inequities at local USDA offices. After I read this, the picture became clear to me as to why this plight was occurring. I found this fact very interesting: The average Black farmer has 132 acres, according to the 2017 Agricultural Census, the lowest of any socially disadvantaged group. That compares with 431 acres for white farmers.
Only an unreasonable person would deny the data confirms that Black farmers have been denied opportunities. But the future now rests on how the Biden administration's farm policies will combat decades of racial discrimination.
The plan to use $4 billion from the recent coronavirus aid package to forgive loans to farmers of color is now tied up in legal challenges filed by white farmers. The work will require fundamentally rethinking USDA programs stretching back decades with the key question being, “Who’s going to go to bat for this group of men and women who so desperately want their contributions accounted for?"
Black farmers want to have the same application governmental review process as their white predecessors. The total number of direct loans given to Black farmers has fallen drastically in recent years, from a high of 945 in 2015 to a 10-year low of 460 in 2020. Direct loans are available for farmers to put toward a wide variety of purchases, repairs, and investments needed to make a way in this industry. How can they make it work without assistance?
For their part, many black farmers would like to see agencies locally offer more assistance in the application process which now requires that they get an approval letter from a real estate agent before applying for a loan application. John Boyd Jr., a fourth-generation Black farmer in Virginia and president of the nonprofit National Black Farmers Association, said “The lack of lawmaker support was a sickening realization...it shows how disconnected half the Senate is from Black farmers. I’ve been trying to get this relief for over 30 years.”
Now we have to make sure Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack defines these loans in the same way it was intended, with outreach and technical assistance for Black farmers included. We as a people need to support Black farmers. That means we're going to have to understand the process and pressure lawmakers to make good on their promise to support family farms of all races.