Lloyd Wright isn’t shocked that the United States Department of Agriculture is reversing a 35-year-old policy meant to help 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 crawled 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.
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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.
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“We are taking this aggressive, unprecedented action to eliminate discrimination in any form at USDA,” Brooke Rollins, secretary of agriculture, said in a news release. “It is simply wrong and contrary to the fundamental principle that all persons should be treated equally.”
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Just last month, a conservative law firm sued the Trump administration on behalf of Adam Faust, a white dairy farmer from Wisconsin. Faust alleges that he has experienced discrimination in three USDA programs — Dairy Margin Coverage Program, Loan Guarantee Program, and Environmental Quality Incentives Program. He claims the programs favor women and farmers of color, offering reduced administrative fees, higher loan guarantees, and more money for conservation efforts.
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