USDA Drops “Socially Disadvantaged” Policy, Impacting Black Farmers

Written By Lexx Thornton

Lloyd Wright isn’t surprised that the United States Department of Agriculture is reversing a 35-year-old policy aimed at helping Black farmers in favor of a race-neutral approach. 

 But the 84-year-old, who grows soybeans and vegetables in Virginia, knows his fellow Black farmers will feel “the damage” of it. 

Last week, the agency announced that it’s eliminating the term “socially disadvantaged,” which describes farmers or ranchers who had been subjected to racial, ethnic, or gender discrimination, which includes Black, Hispanic, Native American, and Asian groups. 

 “The government is going to take back the money — the little bit we were getting — and some of the outreach money will be clawed back,” Wright said. “Because they’re eliminating socially disadvantaged and anything else dealing with DEI [diversity, equity, and inclusion.” 

 The department adopted the language in the 1990 Farm Bill to deliver resources to minority farmers, including through the 2501 Program — an initiative that requires the USDA to produce outreach and technical assistance to historically underserved farmers to ensure that they have access to grants and other resources. 

 Now, the agency will drop the use of the term entirely and will no longer consider race or sex-based criteria in its decision-making process for programs. According to the decision, this move will ensure that USDA programs “uphold the principles of meritocracy, fairness, and equal opportunity for all participants.” 

 The decision also said the department has “sufficiently” addressed its history of discrimination through litigation that has resulted in settlements, relief, and reforms. 

 USDA officials did not respond to a question about the potential impact this policy will have on programs or on farmers of color, who represent about 4% of the nation’s 3.3 million producers, according to the Census of Agriculture. 

 However, a spokesperson for the agency said in a statement that USDA Secretary Brooke Rollins will follow the law while putting farmers first. 

“Under President Trump, USDA does not discriminate and single out individual farmers based on race, sex, or political orientation. Secretary Rollins is working to reorient the department to be more effective at serving the American people and put farmers first while following the law,” the statement said. 

 Several Democratic congressional leaders are speaking out against the change and demanding that the USDA be held accountable. U.S. Rep. Shontel Brown, a Democrat from Ohio who is a vice ranking member on the House Committee on Agriculture, said this is “President Donald Trump’s resegregation agenda.” Brown said the rule isn’t about fairness, but stripping the tools to help level the playing field. 

 “It’s no secret that the Department has a long history of locking out and leaving behind Black, Brown, and Indigenous farmers,” Brown wrote in a statement. “Now, this administration is taking a deliberate and disgraceful step backward on the path to attempt to right the historic wrongs. The ‘socially disadvantaged’ designation was a long overdue recognition of the barriers to land, credit, and opportunity that farmers of color have faced for generations.” 

 U.S. Rep. Shomari Figures, a Democrat from Alabama who also serves on the House Committee on Agriculture, said that instead of reversing this rule, the administration should compensate Black farmers impacted by the USDA’s past actions. 

 “It’s no secret that Black farmers were economically disadvantaged by the past intentional discrimination by the USDA,” Figures said in a statement to Capital B. “I believe this administration should take every opportunity to … implement criteria that ensure that Black farmers are not subjected to such treatment in the future.” 

 For Wright, a retired USDA employee who has worked with 10 presidents dating back to the 1960s, the label “socially disadvantaged” was never a good one because it included too many groups of people. He said Black people haven’t benefited from the wording as much as other people. 

Wright said while he doesn’t believe preferential treatment should be given to a person because of race or sex, the government shouldn’t deny a person resources for the same reason. 

 “I don’t think I’m socially disadvantaged. I just happen to be Black, and they discriminated against me because I’m Black, and so I think it’s time that we straighten it out,” he said. 

 “There are people who deserve compensation — I wouldn’t call it reparations — but they deserve to be compensated for the damages done to them in the past” by state, local, and federal governments, he added. 

 Tiffany Bellfield El-Amin, founder of the Kentucky Black Farmers Association, agrees that there needs to be a new definition, because not all Black people fit into the category of being disadvantaged. However, redefining the language of the policy is crucial to ensure that Black farmers, who often receive limited resources, are adequately supported, she said. 

 She pointed out that some Black farmers with larger operations have been able to secure loans, even though they do not face disadvantages or discrimination. Additionally, she said that in some county offices, USDA officials prioritize outreach to white farmers — specifically those they are familiar with — leaving many Black farmers to navigate the system on their own. 

 The most prominent concern for Bellfield El-Amin was the loss of inclusivity. “That’s why we adopt new ways of doing Underground Railroad-type situations. We’re gonna figure it out one way or another,” she told Capital B. “We just don’t have time to fight with definitions that may or may not help us in the long run, just exhaust us even further … and we still end up here.”