In the wake of obstacles in the courts that have blocked a Biden administration attempt to provide race-based remedies for alleged past discrimination by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the recently signed Inflation Reduction Act repealed and replaced a program that was part of the $1.9 trillion American Rescue Act with a smorgasbord of new initiatives aimed at “unserved or underserved” communities of producers—all of which are careful not to use language suggesting that race alone is a qualification or will be used to exclude anyone.
The original $4 billion aid program, called Section 1005, was part of the $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan of 2021. It was intended to compensate Black and other farmers of color—including American Indian or Alaskan Native, Asian American, Pacific Islander or Hispanic—who had allegedly faced agricultural loan discrimination in the past. The money was supposed to be used to pay off farm debts.
But because the Section 1005 program used race as a qualification, it was immediately challenged by white farmers and groups representing them, along with some state attorneys general, and was suspended while it was being litigated in the courts. The measure’s critics argued the race qualification was illegal and unconstitutional.
New approach
In response, the Inflation Reduction Act amended parts of the 2020 American Rescue Act and rolled over some of its funding to create new ag loan relief and other programs that dropped race alone as a qualification. U.S. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack gave an online news conference Aug. 24 that explained the new approach.
Vilsack laid out several of the new efforts at USDA to move “equity” forward, including an internal review of equity issues within USDA that resulted in 500 specific recommendations. He said the USDA has appointed an interim equity officer to oversee implementation of the recommendations and would soon hire a full-time chief inclusion officer to “institutionalize” the changes.
The USDA will spend $250 million at historically Black colleges and universities and tribal universities, to “recruit, train and support the brightest and best” at these institutions, with the hope that some will make careers in agriculture, including at the USDA itself. The program is called the Next Gen Ag Leaders Program, modeled after a similar program at the USDA’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture. Vilsack said its funding could go to universities, nonprofit foundations or community organizations, among others.
Ag loans
Regarding loans, a USDA spokesperson said, “The IRA includes new provisions that will prove to be helpful in keeping distressed farmers farming and providing assistance to farmers who have experienced discrimination in USDA’s leading programs. One provision will provide USDA with $3.1 billion for USDA to expeditiously provide relief for distressed USDA borrowers whose agricultural operations are at risk. Through this section USDA can provide loan modifications and payments to distressed borrowers with the goal of keeping farmers farming ”
“It also modifies Section 1006 of ARPA to provide $2 billion in assistance to provide financial assistance to farmers who have experienced discrimination in USDA lending programs. This substantially increases funding for this purpose from the American Rescue Plan Act which provided a minimum of $50 million for this purpose.” The language suggests that farmers who apply will have to provide a showing of discrimination. “For the first time ever, USDA will be able to work with borrowers to resolve unsustainable debt loads and delinquencies without taking the land or making the farmer ineligible for future assistance and will also have designated resources and authority for addressing discrimination.”
John Boyd, president of the Black Farmers Association, blasted the new programs as a betrayal of Black farmers. “Biden Withdraws Support for Black Farmers,” reads the landing page on his website. “I’m very, very disappointed in this legislative action,” Boyd said in response to the bill’s final reading. “I’m prepared to fight for debt relief for Black, Native American and other farmers of color all the way to the Supreme Court … Discrimination at USDA against Black farmers was rampant and severe. Section 1005 loan repayment program was a necessary step in fixing those harms. To acknowledge and correct racism is not unconstitutional or racist.”
David Murray can be reached at [email protected]
