Washington, D.C.- Today, 174 groups released a letter to Congressional leaders urging support for the Emergency Relief for Farmers of Color Act introduced by Senator Reverend Raphael Warnock (D-GA), Senator Cory Booker (D-NJ), Senator Ben Ray Luján (D- NM), and Senate Agriculture Chairwoman Debbie Stabenow (D-MI). They further urged them to assure the emergency relief provisions drawn from this Act, as added by House Agriculture Committee Chairman, Rep. David Scott (D-GA) to the Concurrent Resolution on the Budget for Fiscal Year 2021, are included in the final COVID Emergency Budget Reconciliation Package.
“This debt relief legislation for Black, Indigenous and People of Color (BIPOC) farmers is a long time in coming. Passage of this omnibus bill will finally provide relief to address the cumulative impact of continuing discrimination and reverse the persistent decline of BIPOC farmers and disruption of their local food economies, said Savonala Horne, Esq., director of the North Carolina Association of Black Lawyers Land Loss Prevention Project. “This well-timed relief also benefits rural communities burdened by the COVID Pandemic and is a step in the right direction to close the health disparity gap.”
“This country needs to move beyond partisan politics and move towards racial and economic justice for BIPOC Farmers as the original farmers of this land. Retiring their long-term debt and securing land tenure is in everyone’s interest.” said Dara Cooper, Executive Director of the National Black Farmer Justice Alliance.
The Kansas Black Farmers Association (KBFA) supports the bill because, as KBFA member, Mr. Rod Bradshaw, our largest African American land-owning farmer in Northwestern Kansas, says, "these funds will help me save my farm, pure and simple! It is time to level the playing field and provide us with the much-needed resources to make it through this pandemic and epic drought." Veryl Switzer, the 87-year-old founder of the KBFA, said, "There has been nothing fair or equitable about the Black farmer experience with the USDA and their loans and programs. Historically, it is the USDA's loans that have forced us to sell off or lose our land."
Rudy Arredondo, President of the National Latino Farmers and Ranchers Trade Association noted that “This Congress has a long history of providing debt and disaster relief to the agriculture sector, but even during this pandemic these farmers and ranchers have not benefitted from the generous federal assistance other producers received and require to survive. It makes it really tough to support their families, contribute to their communities and transfer farmland and the farming vocation to future generations.”
“The challenges resulting from long-standing discrimination faced by farmers of color have only been compounded since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic,” said Martín Lemos, Co-Executive Director of the National Young Farmers Coalition. “Targeted, impactful relief that prevents BIPOC farm business loss through debt, land loss, or inequitable program implementation at USDA is an absolutely vital part of addressing the current moment and rebuilding our agricultural system for the future.”
“The Emergency Relief for Farmers of Color Act is an important step toward equity, justice and inclusion as well as putting our nation on a track toward resiliency and sustainability,” said Cornelius Blanding, Executive Director of the Federation of Southern Cooperatives Land Assistance Fund. “Debt relief is needed to ensure a diverse and resilient food system that includes and values farmers of color. But just as important, the focus around technical and legal support addresses issues of equity and justice by deploying resources to address some of the main reasons for land loss in communities of color—heirs property and access to credit. This legislation is specific to farmers of color but is one of the solutions to anchoring our diverse communities and strengthening our country.”
“After decades of inequitable treatment by USDA this bill is a small step to mitigating years of discrimination, neglect and limited services by USDA compounded by the coronavirus pandemic,” concluded Rural Coalition Chairperson John Zippert. “We strongly urge Congress to retain these important provisions of debt relief and targeted technical assistance for BIPOC farmers in the Coronavirus Relief Act.”
The Letter can be downloaded here.