COLUMBUS, Ohio – The $1.9 trillion coronavirus stimulus package being pushed by President Joe Biden puts more than $1 billion toward “socially disadvantaged” farmers and related groups, including an equity commission, agricultural training and other assistance to advance racial justice in farming.

“Socially disadvantaged farmers are those who are part of a group that has been discriminated against because of their race or ethnicity,” said John Boyd, president of the National Black Farmers Association. “By denying or delaying Black farmers the same loans, subsidies and other payments made to white farmers, USDA engaged in systematic racism that led to a dramatic decline in the number of Black farmers. This is not in dispute. Sadly, this long legacy of discrimination is baked into USDA programs, including how payments to Black farmers like me continue to be calculated.”

Biden’s American Rescue Plan would also fund direct relief payments “equal to 120 percent of the outstanding indebtedness of each socially disadvantaged farmer or rancher as of Jan. 1, 2021, to pay off the loan directly or to the socially disadvantaged farmer or rancher.”

Black farmers accounted for approximately one-sixth (900,000) of farmers in 1920, but less than 2 percent (35,000) of farms were run by Black producers by 2017, according to USDA data.

The agency has faced accusations of discrimination for years. The class-action Pigford lawsuit that the government settled in 1999 for $1.25 billion was supposed to help farmers who claimed they were unfairly denied loans and other government assistance.

Just this past week, a pair of bills (Justice for Black Farmers Act and Emergency Relief for Farmers of Color Act) were put forth by Democratic senators, aiming to help Black farmers survive not only the coronavirus but to reconcile a long history of mistreatment and discrimination as well.

The Justice for Black Farmers Act targets the biggest problems that have plagued Black Farmers – debt, land acquisition and access to credit. The act would create a new Equitable Land Access Service that would return land to Black farmers previously seized by the government while making land available to Black Americans who want to enter the industry. It would also create a new federal bank aimed at giving Black farmers and other farmers of color easier access to credit.

The Emergency Relief for Farmers of Color Act would provide $4 billion in direct payments to farmers of color and another $1 billion toward rooting out systemic racism within the USDA that some senators said have robbed Black families of the ability to build and pass on generational wealth.

Black farms today make up just 1.7 percent of the nation’s two million farms, despite that fact that the number of Black farms has increased since the 1990s.

Moreover, the 2017 data showed that Black farms were grossly below the average in most revenue-related categories, only receiving about half of the government payments that an average U.S farm receives.

“We’re proud, dignified people,” Boyd said. “Farming is our oldest occupation and here we are, facing extinction. So I’m glad that Congress is finally realizing that and treating us as an endangered species because that’s what we are.”

In Ohio, according to the USDA agricultural census released in 2017, there are 77,805 farms in Ohio’s 88 counties. Of that total, there are just 193 Black-owned farms in the state.

In southwest Ohio, Greene County has no Black-owned farms, out of a total 617. Neither does Clark County, with 742 total farms. Montgomery County lists nine Black-owned farming ventures, out of 782 overall.

“The loss of land holdings over time has been an issue for all farmers, but especially Black farmers,” said Terry Cosby, the Ohio head of the USDA’s Natural Resource Conservation department.”

Cosby’s family has a farm in Mississippi that goes back four generations.

“My great-grandfather, when he was freed in South Carolina, moved to Mississippi, where he purchased a piece of land to farm. The importance of that purchase remained strong for his family. My dad always told me, ‘if you’ve got land, you’ve got somewhere you can go.’”

To this day, Cosby addresses audiences in Cleveland, Columbus and Cincinnati about urban farming initiatives. He said family farms have been hit hard as agriculture became the business of larger, more industrial farming techniques, and enterprises that were able to supply bigger stores and chains.

Cosby cites disinterest in farming among younger generations due to the arduous nature of the work and all the costs of staying afloat, including property taxes, as reasons that farming numbers have declined. As for Black farmers, many like Cosby feel they’ve been hurt by past discriminatory practices by lending institutions and federal agencies, including the USDA.

“Helping farmers retain their property is a USDA goal,” Cosby said. “There are a lot of reasons why the land is changing hands. The five-year agricultural census helps shape federal policy to support the nation’s farmers. I urge farmers to contact their regional USDA office to learn more about resources available to them.”