Should the U.S. Government Buy 28 Million Acres of Farmland to Give Out Based on Race?
New Jersey Senator, Cory Booker, has introduced the Justice for Black Farmers Act. The Bill outlines a plan for the Government to buy up at least 28 million acres to give to people that have, “at least 1 parent of African ancestry.” This amount of land is larger than the state of Ohio and five times larger than the state of New Jersey. According to Booker the bill was created, “To address the history of discrimination against Black farmers and ranchers, to require reforms within the Department of Agriculture to prevent future discrimination, and for other purposes.”
PIGFORD V GLICKMAN
Much of the Bill seems to focus on righting the wrongs that came out in the Pigford vs. Glickman case of the late 90’s. The Pigford case is still the largest civil rights class action suit in U.S. history. The case claimed that in the 1980s and 90s Black farmers were discriminated against by the USDA offices by being denied farm loans, loan servicing and benefits, or had been given loans with unfair terms. In 1999, a judgement was reached, and around $1 billion was awarded to settle the claims of some 16,000 farmers. Since that time it has been argued that some were denied claims and that payments were not received. In 2010 the Obama administration set aside an additional $1.15 billion to settle the additional claims, making the total payout $2.25 billion.
FLOODGATES OF FRAUD?
Booker’s bill calls for an investigation into, “discrimination in Farm Service Agency county committees and claimants who did not receive payments under Pigford v. Glickman.”
In 2013 The New York Times published the article U.S. Opens Spigot After Farmers Claim Discrimination by investigative Journalist Sharon LaFraniere. The article calls into question if discrimination ever occurred, citing, “Two government reports that year found no evidence of ongoing, systemic discrimination.” The focus of the article is on how the case, “opened the floodgates to fraud.” It describes in detail and gives first hand testimony, such as, “Claimants described how, at packed meetings, lawyers’ aides would fill out forms for them on the spot, sometimes supplying answers “to keep the line moving,” as one put it.” One analyst who reviewed claims was quoted, “Basically, it was a rip-off of the American taxpayers.” The article gives detailed accounts of multiple cases of fraudulent claims that were paid out. Claimants ranged from nursery aged children to dead people. “In Columbus, Ohio, nearly everyone in two adjoining apartment buildings had filed.” In one family of 10 each individual received their own settlement giving the family a total payout of $500,000.
The article also tells of how, once the Black farmers received their settlement, Hispanic, Native Americans, and female farmers put together their own lawsuits and received settlements.
BLACK FARMER LAND GRANTS
Within Booker’s Bill, is a section called Black Farmer Land Grants. This section starts by defining what an, “eligible Black individual,” is and outlines how they will have to prove their bloodlines. It goes on to describe how the land will be purchased and given. A, “nonprofit organization” that has, “at least 50 percent of the members of the board of directors of which are Black” will be in charge of finding the land to buy. Then, “The USDA Secretary shall purchase from willing sellers at fair market value available agricultural land in the United States and convey grants of that land of up to 160 acres to eligible Black individuals at no cost. If a sufficient number of applications are filed, the Secretary shall convey not less than 20,000 land grants to eligible Black individuals each year from 2021 through 2030.
So, “not less than 20,000 land grants,” of up to 160 acres per year, over nine years, means that 28.8 million acres is the minimum amount to be purchased with no set maximum. To put that in perspective Ohio is the 34th largest state and contains 28.6 million acres.
USDA would have the Right of Reentry for five years, and Right of First Refusal if the land is sold after the 5 years.
JUSTICE FOR BLACK FARMERS?
The bill makes no mention of land grants going to farmers that have been discriminated against. You don’t even have to be a farmer or have ever worked in agriculture. The only requirements for receiving land are, (A) was born in the United States; (B) is at least 21 years of age; (C) has previously identified as Black or African American; and (D) has at least 1 parent of African ancestry. Also, “As a condition on the receipt of a land grant, an eligible Black individual without prior experience in agriculture shall be required to complete, at no cost, a farmer training program provided by a qualified entity.”
WHO’S PAYING?
The federal government has no money. They have the opposite, a $3 trillion deficit. According to the USDA the average price for farmland in the U.S. is $4,100 per acre. So, it can be estimated that each recipient would be receiving around $656,000 worth of land. 20,000 land grants are to be given each year, that would cost, over $13 billion dollars per year over nine years for a grand total of over $118 billion worth of land purchased and given to 180,000 recipients, but there is no limit on land price in the bill. Farmland recently sold in Northwest Iowa for $16,800 per acre. At that price the government could pay for, and give away $2.6 million of land to one individual. There is no telling what the price of land could be in 9 years, especially with the government buying up this much of it.
There is an additional $9 billion included for a Farm Conservation Corp. and another $4.5 billion to be given to Historically Black Colleges and Universities to develop agriculture programs. Booker is also a co-sponsor on a bill introduced by Senator Ralph Warnock that would provide $5 billion to Black, Indigenous, Hispanic and other farmers of color. They are pushing to have it included in the current Covid relief bill.
RECIPE FOR FAILURE
Race is a complex issue, one that I feel completely unqualified to write about, but I do know agriculture. I know that sending someone with no experience through a, “training program” and then giving them 160 acres is simply a recipe for failure. Farming itself is a life long training program. Most successful farmers’ work experience goes back for as far as they can remember. Many 1st generation farmers spend years and years working in agriculture before they run their own operation, and even then many of them still give up or go broke. You can not make someone a farmer by giving them land, anymore than you can make someone a doctor by giving them a patient.
THE MASSIVE CHANGE AND MEDIA SILENCE
So, should the U.S. Government buy 28 million acres of farmland to give away based on skin color and ancestry? I have no idea what its like to be a minority in this country, what its like to experience discrimination, or have ancestors that were discriminated against. I do believe that the American taxpayers should be made aware of what I assume would be the federal government’s largest purchase of land since Alaska. I have read multiple articles about this bill, and most of them simply explain the bill as helping Black farmers who have been discriminated against. Few of them mention the land purchase, or how being a farmer that was discriminated against will have nothing to do with who gets the land. None of them mention the full cost, or the actual amount of acres to be purchased. This bill would be the largest change to the Department of Agriculture ever, and no one is talking about it, or informing the public about what’s in it.
Click Here to read the Justice for Black Farmers Act
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Jim Mundorf- Owner of Lonesome Lands and The Drover House. He also works on his families farm and cattle ranch in Iowa