USDA Ends $300M Land Purchase Assistance Program For Underrepresented Farmers
The US Department of Agriculture (USDA) is scrapping grants helping farmers secure land, according to POLITICO. Around $300 million was set aside to support nonprofits, tribal governments, and other organizations.
These programs were created by The Increasing Land, Capital, and Market Access Program and gave underrepresented farms access to capital, planning, and efforts to reduce land loss. A letter shared with POLITICO said that the program “involved discriminatory preferences based on Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion” and “wasteful spending.”
Scrapping grants for underserved farmers
“USDA will prioritize unity, equality, meritocracy, and color-blindness in furtherance of the Department’s mission,” Farm Service Agency Associate Administrator Steven Peterson wrote in the March 23 letter. USDA spokesperson Alec Varsamis also said in a statement that the program was an example of “an egregious misuse of taxpayer dollars” and did not have a minimum requirement for “direct producer support.”
“Under this Administration, USDA programs will uphold market principles, engage in fiscal discipline, and provide adequate funding to the farmers it exists to support.”
A loss for Black farmers
John Boyd, president and founder of the National Black Farmers Association, told theGrio that “This is an administration that wants a white-only America.” Boyd has openly critiqued Trump’s anti-DEI cuts at USDA, including a $5 billion debt-relief program.
He told theGrio that currently there are 190 pending farm foreclosures for Black-owned farmers who “can’t meet some sort of financial obligation.” This includes mortgage loans, farm operating loans, and equipment loans tied to their Deed of Trust.
“We were all farmers, and one or two generations away from somebody’s farm, and Black people simply wanted to own land.”
Image: The Associated Press. All rights reserved
