Listen 13 min MORE Willie Earl Nelson Sr. (center) and his sons Courtney, Willie Jr., Adrain, and Shaun are farmers in Sondheimer, Louisiana. Mr. Nelson and his son Adrain describe the discrimination and red tape many Black farmers face when obtaining loans for land. Photo by Alison Gootee.
Generations of Black farmers have fallen victim to discriminatory practices employed against them by the US Department of Agriculture and the Farm Service Administration. Recently, a judge halted a Biden administration forgiveness program for Black farmers that included debt relief.
Natalie Baszile describes the vicious cycle of loans denied and delayed that lead to land seizure. Third generation farmer Willie Earl Nelson and his son Adrain share how strategies are deployed by government institutions and financial institutions to seize farms, such as forcing Black farmers to borrow more money than requested and buying lan
The U.S. Department of Agriculture has designated Rapides Parish, Louisiana, as a primary natural disaster area because of the winter storm and ice from
USDA: February storms created disaster area in Rapides
May 24, 2021
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BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) The U.S. Department of Agriculture has designated Rapides Parish, Louisiana, as a primary natural disaster area because of the winter storm and ice from Feb. 15-21.
Producers in Rapides and the seven parishes that touch it are eligible to apply for emergency loans through the Farm Service Administration. The surrounding parishes are Allen, Avoyelles, Evangeline, Grant, LaSalle, Natchitoches and Vernon.
“Many producers in this area were hit by multiple hurricanes last year only to have further losses from the winter storm in February,” Louisiana Agriculture and Forestry Commissioner Mike Strain said in a news release Monday. “Emergency assistance is essential to help producers recover and stay in business.”
A North Florida farmer is challenging a financial aid program for minority farmers that became law this year, saying it’s unconstitutional because it freezes out struggling white farmers.
Scott Wynn from Jennings about 90 minutes west of Jacksonville in Hamilton County sued U.S. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack in Jacksonville’s federal court Tuesday over a loan-forgiveness program that was folded into the $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan.
The lawsuit says the program for “socially disadvantaged” farmers uses race as a standard for getting financial help, whether the farmer who’s applying is financially strained or not.
“Granting or denying farmers loan forgiveness based on their race violates the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment,” Wen Fa, an attorney at the Pacific Legal Foundation, which is representing Wynn, said in emailed remarks. “The Supreme Court has said repeatedly that government cannot use race as a factor, except in narrow c
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