Black farmers worried about $1.25 billion settlement

As Jasmin Melvin of Reuters reports, last month the Obama administration settled the so-called Pigford lawsuit in which black farmers sued the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) over alleged discrimination in the disbursement of USDA funds and credit to black farmers. The original suit was filed by North Carolina farmer Timothy Pigford in 1997 "after decades of the department not responding to black farmers' claims of discrimination.

The suit was settled two years later. 13,000 farmers received monetary damages and debt relief that totaled over $1 billion. Yet, "tens of thousands of farmers missed the filing deadline so their claims were denied.

Then, on February 18 a new deal, known as Pigford II, was reached by the USDA and the Department of Justice. "The new settlement would allow these farmers [those who missed the deadline] to again make their claims." Reuters reports that the administration announced a $1.25 billion settlement with these farmers.

However, the deal requires congressional approval by March 31, before Congress leaves for the Easter recess. Right now there is worry that Congress will leave the Hill without approving the funds. John Boyd Jr., head of the National Black Farmers Association, stated in the Reuters article that missing the deadline '"would mean missing another planting season, more black farmers going out of business, more black farmers dying waiting for justice . . . The reason we took the settlement was because we though they were going to act swiftly [.]"

Boyd was encouraged by a "last-ditch meeting" with USDA Secretary Tom Vilsack and appropriators on Capitol Hill on Wednesday, believing the secretary does not want to walk out on the current deal.

If the administration declares the spending as "emergency" it can avoid the pay-go requirement that all spending be paid for by cuts elsewhere in the budget. This is the hope the black farmers are clinging to.

To read the Reuters article, click here.

Posted: 03/25/