Podcasts

USDA and Black farmers

Black and other minority farmers who have endured a long history of discrimination are the intended recipients of $4 billion in debt forgiveness through the March pandemic relief law. (Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images)
Black and other minority farmers who have endured a long history of discrimination are the intended recipients of $4 billion in debt forgiveness through the March pandemic relief law. (Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images)
By Mary C. Curtis, Joanne Levine, and Evan Campbell
Posted May 27, 2021 at 1:40pm

Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack sits down with Mary C. Curtis to discuss Black farmers and the USDA plan to provide debt relief to socially disadvantaged borrowers through the March COVID-19 relief law.

That means Black farmers who have lost 90 percent of their land in the last century, in large part because of USDA policies, may receive compensation. The administration says equity is overdue and this is just the beginning. But many white farmers and banks have objections. 

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