NC black farmers filing claims in USDA settlement – WRAL

FAYETTEVILLE, N.C. — Black farmers in eastern North Carolina are lining up to talk to lawyers about claiming part of a more than $1 billion settlement with the federal government before time runs out.

Meetings are scheduled between Thursday and Saturday in Fayetteville for farmers who may be eligible to receive payments. (More)

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Black Farmers

PRESS RELEASE: Butterfield Disappointed USDA Will Close FSA Offices and Limit Access to Underserved Populations

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For Release:  Immediate     Date:  February 28, 2012

Contact: Kezmiché "Kim" Atterbury  Phone:  (202) 225.3101                                                    Mobile: (202) 465.5125

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Butterfield Disappointed USDA Will Close FSA Offices and Limit Access to Underserved Populations

WASHINGTON, DC – Congressman G. K. Butterfield (NC-01) expressed disappointment with the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) announcement Monday to move forward with the closures of more than 100 Farm Service Agency (FSA) offices, including three in Butterfield’s congressional district.  Earlier this month, Butterfield wrote a letter to Secretary Tom Vilsack urging him to reconsider the proposal to close FSA offices in Chowan, Hertford, and Warren counties due to the high volume of farmers who rely on their services.

“These offices are indispensable to thousands of farmers in my district,” said Butterfield.  “While I understand the agency must find ways to reduce spending, shuttering FSA offices in eastern North Carolina will only limit access to USDA services for underserved populations.  I am certain that there is a better solution.”

Yesterday afternoon Secretary Vilsack informed Congress that in 90 days he will approve the closures of 259 domestic offices, facilities and labs, including 131 FSA offices, and seven foreign offices.

The Congressman insists that the current timeframe is insufficient notice to close the offices and guarantee that all farmers in the FSA system are properly notified of the upcoming changes.  Butterfield also said he urges Secretary Vilsack to ensure that all FSA employees affected by the announced closures will not be laid off, and instead given the option of being reassigned to a nearby office.

 

http://www.Butterfield.House.Gov

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PRESS RELEASE: Butterfield Urges USDA Secretary to Keep State Farm Service Offices Open

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For Release:  Immediate Date:  February 9, 2012

Contact: Kezmiché "Kim" Atterbury Phone: (202) 225.3101 Mobile: (202) 465.5125

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Butterfield Urges USDA Secretary to Keep State Farm Service Offices Open

WASHINGTON, DC – Today, Congressman G. K. Butterfield (NC-01) sent a letter to U.S. Department of Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack opposing the proposed closures of several U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Farm Service Agency (FSA) offices in North Carolina.  As part of an effort to cut its budget, the USDA released a proposal in January suggesting the closure of a number of FSA offices, including those in Chowan, Hertford and Warren counties, which provides critical access to USDA services for hundreds of farmers, many of them African-American.

Mr. Butterfield wrote, “Each of these FSA offices serves counties with diverse populations.  Hertford and Warren are both majority African American counties, and Chowan is a 35 percent African American county.  As you know, USDA’s relationship with black farmers has been fraught as a result of historical discrimination, especially within FSA programs.  I applaud this Administration’s efforts to confront these longstanding discrimination issues.  However, eliminating FSA offices in these counties will severely limit access to USDA services for black farmers in eastern North Carolina, which is a step in the wrong direction.”

The full text of the letter to Secretary Vilsack is below.

February 9, 2012

The Honorable Thomas Vilsack

Secretary

U.S. Department of Agriculture

1400 Independence Avenue, S.W.

Washington, DC 20250

Dear Secretary Vilsack:

I strongly oppose the proposed consolidation of several U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Farm Service Agency (FSA) offices in North Carolina.  In particular, I bring to your attention three county offices targeted for closure in the First Congressional District: Chowan, Hertford and Warren.  I urge you to reconsider these proposed closures and find other options for budgetary savings.  These offices provide critical access to USDA services for hundreds of farmers, many of them African-American.

In the “Blueprint for Stronger Service” released January 10, 2012, USDA proposed that the Chowan County FSA would be consolidated into Perquimans County, Hertford County FSA into Gates County, and Warren County FSA into Vance County.  Farmers in these targeted counties rely heavily on the services and loans provided by USDA at their local FSA office. These are large rural counties whose primary economic driver is agriculture.  Combined, these offices provide services to over 2,000 farms.  Moreover, the FSA offices in these counties provide a combined $22 million in annual benefits to North Carolina famers, at an annual cost of just three-quarters of a million dollars, making them three of the most efficient offices in the state. 

Farmers visit these offices upwards of ten times annually, and these offices are often the only way for them to navigate an otherwise unwieldy bureaucracy.  Additionally, these FSAs frequently house the USDA Natural Resource Conservation Services, providing even greater access to valuable services to farmers and landowners.  Closing county offices will only make accessing these services more difficult. 

Each of these FSA offices serves counties with diverse populations.  Hertford and Warren are both majority African American counties, and Chowan is a 35 percent African American county.  As you know, USDA’s relationship with black farmers has been fraught as a result of historical discrimination, especially within FSA programs.  I applaud this Administration’s efforts to confront these longstanding discrimination issues.  However, eliminating FSA offices in these counties will severely limit access to USDA services for black farmers in eastern North Carolina, which is a step in the wrong direction.

I understand that you must streamline USDA to comply with draconian budget cuts championed by Republicans in Congress.  This is neither an easy nor enviable task.  However, I ask that you carefully consider the consequences of eliminating these FSA offices as a component of your cost-cutting efforts. 

Therefore, I urge you to reconsider your proposed closure of the FSA offices in Chowan, Hertford, and Warren counties.  They are indispensable to the farmers who depend upon them.  Closing the offices would only limit access for underserved populations.  I am open to working with you to identify alternative cost-savings within USDA in lieu of the savings that would be achieved by closing these offices. 

I look forward to a response before any final decision is made.

Thank you very much.

Very truly yours,

G. K. Butterfield

Member of Congress

See related:

Congressman G.K. Butterfield

Black Farmers’ Advocacy Group to Appeal ‘Pigford II’ Ruling – Source: Big Government

WASHINGTON — A federal judge has agreed to a settlement involving a class of at least 40,000 black farmers who claim they were discriminated against by the U.S. Department of Agriculture and who missed the deadline for an earlier settlement.

U.S. Dist. Judge Paul L. Friedman certified a class of plaintiffs aggregated in 23 separate complaints, including one made by the Memphis-based Black Farmers and Agriculturalists Inc., and its president, Thomas Burrell. (Read more)

See related:

Black Farmers

Obama Administration’s Efforts Will Bring Finality to Longstanding Claims of Discrimination in USDA Program Delivery – Source: USDA

WASHINGTON, Feb. 25, 2011 – As part of continued efforts to close the chapter on allegations that discrimination occurred at USDA in past decades, Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack and Assistant Attorney General Tony West today announced the establishment of a process to resolve the claims of Hispanic and women farmers and ranchers who assert that they were discriminated against when seeking USDA farm loans. (Read more)

See related:

Black Farmers

Justice delayed

For years, the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) denied Black farmers loans and other aid easily approved for White farmers. Many Black farming families lost their land and livelihoods as a result. The farmers sued the government for damages and won — but only a fraction of them ever got paid.¹

As a Senator, Barack Obama helped to secure a new settlement for the remaining Black farmers, but far-right Senate Republicans are committed to keeping the settlement from being paid out, and have repeatedly blocked funding for it over the last year.

It’s time for President Obama to bypass the Republican obstruction. The White House can directly address this injustice and pay these farmers what they’re owed out of administrative funds — and Congressional Black Caucus leaders have previously called for such a solution. ²

Please join us in calling on President Obama to do right by these farmers, and please ask your friends and family to do the same. It takes just a moment:

http://www.colorofchange.org/pigford/?id=2395-545775

For more than a generation, managers at the United States Department of Agriculture systematically turned down Black farmers’ applications for loans and other critical forms of aid. These loans are the lifeblood of farming, and without them many Black-owned farms were foreclosed on — and resold to White farmers.

This insidious discrimination enabled some White farmers to prosper and grow at the expense of generations of Black families who sought to make a living off the land. At the same time, it devastated the Black farming community. While 14% of all farmers were Black at the turn of the last century,³ by 2002 only 1.4% were Black.⁴

Black farmers eventually filed a class action lawsuit against the federal government, winning a landmark legal settlement in 1999. At the time, the USDA paid only a portion of the farmers with legitimate claims, so a second settlement was announced — but Congress never approved funding to pay the remaining farmers.⁵

Republican obstruction has been the main stumbling block on the Black farmers’ long road to justice. Far-right Senate Republicans have repeatedly stood in the way of funding the settlement. First they demanded that the money to pay the farmers not add to the national budget deficit.⁶ Even after that requirement was satisfied, they once again blocked a vote on the appropriation.⁷

Members of the Congressional Black Caucus are rightfully furious at the Republicans’ stalling, and have called on President Obama to bypass the legislative process by paying the settlement out of administrative funds.⁸ The White House has maintained that it doesn’t have the money to pay the $1.25 billion settlement — but at the same time, the administration promised to find $1.5 billion to pay disaster relief for wealthier, mostly white farmers in Arkansas.⁹

With Congress becoming even more conservative after November’s election, it is even less likely that funding for the Black farmers’ discrimination settlement will be funded in next year’s Congress. It needs to happen now.

The White House has worked hard to pass the funding through Congress, but now they need to show Congressional Republicans that they mean business. As the CBC pointed out, justice delayed is justice denied for these aging men and women. Every day, another farm is foreclosed on and more farmers die without having been compensated for the shattering discrimination they faced. Join us in supporting the CBC’s call for President Obama to fund the Black farmers’ settlement. And when you do, please ask your friends and family to do the same.

http://www.colorofchange.org/pigford/?id=2395-545775

Thanks and peace,

– James, Gabriel, William, Dani, Natasha, and the rest of the ColorOfChange.org team
   November 10th, 2010

Help support our work. ColorOfChange.org is powered by YOU — your energy and dollars. We take no money from lobbyists or large corporations that don’t share our values, and our tiny staff ensures your contributions go a long way. You can contribute here:

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References:

1. "Second Chance For Black Farmers," Yes Magazine, Summer 2001
http://act.colorofchange.org/go/445?akid=1691.767655.DjAGy9&t=7

2. "Black lawmakers irate over Emanuel’s $1.5 billion promise to Sen. Lincoln," The Hill, 7-30-2010
http://act.colorofchange.org/go/446?akid=1691.767655.DjAGy9&t=9

3. "Discrimination by USDA Against Black Farmers Gets Presidential," The Daily Yonder, 3-4-2008
http://act.colorofchange.org/go/447?akid=1691.767655.DjAGy9&t=11

4. "The Pigford Case: USDA Settlement of a Discrimination Suit by Black Farmers," Congressional Research Service, 1-13-2009
http://act.colorofchange.org/go/448?akid=1691.767655.DjAGy9&t=13

5. Ibid.

6. "Pigford Vote Delayed; Expected Tomorrow," Talking Points Memo, 8-3-2010
http://act.colorofchange.org/go/449?akid=1691.767655.DjAGy9&t=15

7. "Obama: Pigford II Settlement For African-American Farmers Is A ‘Priority’," Talking Points Memo, 9-10-2010
http://act.colorofchange.org/go/450?akid=1691.767655.DjAGy9&t=17

8. See reference 2

9. See reference 2