Texas farmers win challenge on disaster program
A U.S. District Court judge in Amarillo, Texas, issued a nationwide preliminary injunction regarding the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s 2022 Emergency Relief Program, halting the department from making disaster assistance payments based on race and gender, according to the Texas Cattle Feeders Association.
The USDA may, however, proceed in making payments under the program so long as it is not done in a discriminatory manner.
According to a release from the Southeastern Legal Foundation, which represented plaintiffs Rusty Strickland, Alan West and Bryan Baker, “Under an illegal and unconstitutional funding program, the United States Department of Agriculture has been awarding more congressional disaster relief money to “socially disadvantaged” farmers— farmers who are of certain races or women—than other farmers.”
PHOTO: Firefighters battle flames from the reignited Smokehouse Creek fire outside of Miami. (Texas A&M AgriLife photo by Sam Craft)
