US farm agency to provide discrimination payments to 43,000 farmers

By Leah Douglas

(Reuters) -The U.S. Department of Agriculture said on Wednesday it has issued $2 billion of financial assistance to more than 43,000 farmers, ranchers and forest landowners who experienced past discrimination in the agency's farm lending programs.

The Inflation Reduction Act allocated $2.2 billion for the discrimination payments. For decades, Black farmers and other under-represented groups in farming have alleged bias in the agency's farm loan programs.

"For too long, many farmers and ranchers experienced discrimination in farm loan programs and have not had the same access to federal resources and support,” said President Joe Biden in a statement.

The recipients of the payments include more than 23,000 people who have or previously had a farming operation, and another 20,000 who reported they were unable to have a farming operation because of discrimination in USDA's loan process.

Farm loans from the USDA are often considered a last resort for farmers who have difficulty accessing credit from traditional banks.

Examples of types of discrimination faced by farmers could include receiving higher interest rates, having a loan approved too late in the farming season, or a lack of assistance from loan officers, Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack told reporters on a conference call.

"USDA was operating on a deficit of trust with many of our customers and potential customers," he said. "They didn’t feel our programs were designed for them, and in many cases, they were right.”

The USDA began accepting applications for the money last July. Farmers needed to detail their experiences of discrimination by USDA personnel and the consequences they experienced as a result.

The USDA did not provide demographic information on farmers who received payments.

Mississippi and Alabama received the highest number of payments, according to the agency.

(Reporting by Leah Douglas in Washington; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama and Matthew Lewis)