The $1.9 trillion stimulus bill signed by President Biden on Thursday gives a significant amount of funding to agriculture, including $4 billion for debt relief for minority or socially disadvantaged farmers who may have been kept from making a living or certain opportunities because of burdensome debts.
Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack said in a statement on Wednesday “the American Rescue Plan provides historic debt relief to Black, Indigenous, Hispanic, and other farmers of color who for generations have struggled to fully succeed due to systemic discrimination and a cycle of debt. We cannot ignore the pain and suffering that this pandemic has wrought in communities of color. The American Rescue Plan answers that call to action.”
The USDA website listed where the remaining agriculture funds from H.R. 1319 are going to be allocated in a fact sheet posted shortly after the United States House of Representatives voted in favor of the bill, known as the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021. Other areas the bill provide funding for include, increasing the availability of food under existing programs including free school meals through the summer, strengthening the resiliency of the food supply chain, and rural programs for hospitals and housing aid.
In its introduction to the information, the USDA said, “the legislation is a critical step in getting the U.S. economy back on track, getting children back to school, getting COVID-19 vaccinations to all Americans, and pulling millions out of poverty. Specifically, provisions within the jurisdiction of the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) will reduce hunger across the country, strengthen the food supply chain, invest in rural America, and provide long awaited support to underserved, socially disadvantaged farmers.”
According to an article by Successful Farming, some representatives argued that giving loan forgiveness based on ethnicity could be illegal. Rep. Andrew Clyde (R-Ga.) said, “I will highlight the racist socially disadvantaged farmers provision … this should be a clear violation of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, and I call on the Department of Justice to investigate it if it becomes law. … Federal aid dollars should be colorblind.”
Alternatively, Successful Farming said advocates of the provision argued that the USDA has historically discriminated against Black farmers, specifically through the Pigford settlements which provided $2.2 billion in USDA aid but did not aid many black farmers. The article also cited that Black-owned farms are smaller than the national average and a USDA census which showed that Black farmers received about half of the national average in federal farm payments.
