By Leah Douglas
(Reuters) – The U.S. Department of Agriculture on Wednesday said it has issued $2 billion of financial assistance to more than 43,000 farmers, ranchers, and forest landowners who experienced past discrimination in the agency’s farm lending programs.
The Inflation Reduction Act allocated $2.2 billion for the discrimination payments. For decades, Black farmers and other under-represented groups in farming have alleged bias in the agency’s farm loan programs.
“For too long, many farmers and ranchers experienced discrimination in farm loan programs and have not had the same access to federal resources and support,” said President Joe Biden in a statement.
The recipients of the payments include more than 23,000 people who have or had a farming operation, and another 20,000 who reported they were unable to have a farming operation because of discrimination in USDA’s loan process.
Farm loans from the USDA are often considered a last resort for farmers who have difficulty accessing credit from traditional banks.
The USDA began accepting applications for the money last July. Farmers needed to detail their experiences of discrimination by USDA personnel and the consequences they experienced as a result.
This post is originally published on INVESTING.
