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Georgia Senator Raphael Warnock on Tuesday introduced a $5
billion Emergency Relief for Farmers of Color Act as part of the
$1.9 trillion COVID-19 relief stimulus package. It aims to
provide immediate financial relief to Black, indigenous and
Hispanic farmers.
The bill would provide direct payments to farmers of color and
allocate $1 billion to address systemic racism at the U.S.
Agriculture Department, provide legal assistance to farmers of
color and grants and loans to improve land access for
minorities.
Black farmers have long viewed the USDA suspiciously, and
President Joe Biden's administration has pledged to address past
injustices.
On Tuesday it expressed support for Warnock's proposal.
"It’s a bill crafted to address the immediate need for debt
relief among those who have been marginalized and are hurting
while also advancing long-term issues," USDA Chief of Staff
Katharine Ferguson said in a statement.
Warner's proposal followed a more comprehensive bill introduced
Monday night by New Jersey Senator Cory Booker: the Justice for
Black Farmers Act.
Booker's bill would establish a new agency within the USDA to
purchase land and convey grants of up to 160 acres to eligible
Black individuals. It also would create a new Socially
Disadvantaged Farmer and Rancher Bank to offer new avenues of
lending for farmers once turned away from USDA programs.
"Overtly discriminatory and unjust federal policy has robbed
Black families in the United States of the ability to build and
pass on intergenerational wealth," said Booker.
The bill includes antitrust measures aimed at large meatpacking
companies, provisions for improving livestock market
transparency and increasing funding for local food and
conservation programs to address climate change through
agriculture.
Discriminatory lending practices, often at local USDA offices,
have denied Black farmers access to funds needed to operate,
maintain and purchase farmland, resulting in a loss of $120
billion in farmland value, according to a 2018 analysis by
Melissa Gordon of Tufts University.
(Reporting by Christopher Walljasper; Editing by Dan Grebler)
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