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The current head, the [[United States Secretary of Agriculture|Secretary of Agriculture]], is [[Tom Vilsack]].
The current head, the [[United States Secretary of Agriculture|Secretary of Agriculture]], is [[Tom Vilsack]].

==History==
[[File:Harvey Wiley, Chief Chemist of the Department of Agriculture’s Division of Chemistry.jpg|thumb|[[Harvey Washington Wiley]], Chief Chemist of the Department of Agriculture’s Division of Chemistry (third from the right) with his staff, not long after he joined the division in 1883]]

===Origins===
Early in its history, the [[economy of the United States]] was largely [[agrarian]]. Officials in the federal government had long sought new and improved varieties of seeds, plants and animals for importation to the United States. In 1837 [[Henry Leavitt Ellsworth]], a Yale-educated attorney interested in improving agriculture, became Commissioner of Patents, a position within the [[United States Department of State|Department of State]]. He soon began collecting and distributing new varieties of seeds and plants through members of the [[United States Congress|Congress]] and agricultural societies. In 1839, Congress established the Agricultural Division within the [[United States Patent and Trademark Office|Patent Office]] and allotted $1,000 for "the collection of agricultural statistics and other agricultural purposes."

Ellsworth's interest in aiding agriculture was evident in his annual reports that called for a public depository to preserve and distribute the various new seeds and plants, a clerk to collect agricultural statistics, the preparation of statewide reports about crops in different regions, and the application of chemistry to agriculture. Ellsworth's agricultural focus earned him the [[sobriquet]] of "The Father of the Department of Agriculture."

In 1849, the Patent Office was transferred to the newly created [[United States Department of the Interior|Department of the Interior]]. In the ensuing years, agitation for a separate bureau of agriculture within the department or a separate department devoted to agriculture kept recurring.

===Formation and subsequent history===
On May 15, 1862, [[Abraham Lincoln]] established the independent Department of Agriculture to be headed by a Commissioner without Cabinet status.<ref>12 Stat. 387, now codified at [http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/html/uscode07/usc_sec_07_00002201----000-.html 7 U.S.C. § 2201].</ref> Lincoln called it the "people's department." In the 1880s, varied [[advocacy group]]s were lobbying for Cabinet representation. Business interests sought a Department of Commerce and Industry, and farmers tried to raise the Department of Agriculture to Cabinet rank. In 1887, the [[United States House of Representatives|House of Representatives]] and [[United States Senate|Senate]] passed bills giving Cabinet status to the Department of Agriculture and Labor, but the bill was
defeated in [[conference committee]] after farm interests objected to the addition of labor. Finally, on February 9, 1889, President [[Grover Cleveland]] signed a bill into law elevating the Department of Agriculture to Cabinet level.<ref>25 Stat 659 (February 9, 1889)</ref>

In 1887, the [[Hatch Act of 1887|Hatch Act]] provided for the federal funding of [[agricultural experiment station]]s in each state. The [[Smith-Lever Act of 1914]] then funded [[cooperative extension service]]s in each state to teach agriculture, home economics and related subjects to the public. With these and similar provisions, the USDA reached out to every county of every state.

During the [[Great Depression]], farming remained a common way of life for millions of Americans. The Department of Agriculture was crucial{{Citation needed|reason=crucial for what reason?|date=October 2013}} to providing concerned persons with the assistance that they needed to make it through this difficult period, helping to ensure that food continued to be produced and distributed to those who needed it, assisting with loans for small landowners, and contributing to the education of the rural youth.

Today, many of the programs concerned with the distribution of food and nutrition to people of America and providing nourishment as well as [[Nutrition Education|nutrition education]] to those in need are run and operated under the USDA Food and Nutrition Service. Activities in this program include the [[Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program]], which provides healthy food to over 40 million low-income and homeless individuals and families each month,.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.fns.usda.gov/snap/ |title=FNS Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) |publisher=Fns.usda.gov |date=2013-06-21 |accessdate=2013-12-29}}</ref> USDA is a member of the [[United States Interagency Council on Homelessness]],<ref>[http://www.usich.gov/member_agency Member Agency | United States Interagency Council on Homelessness (USICH)<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref> where it is committed to working with other agencies to ensure these mainstream benefits are accessed by those experiencing homelessness.

The USDA also is concerned with assisting farmers and food producers with the sale of crops and food on both the domestic and world markets. It plays a role in overseas aid programs by providing surplus foods to developing countries. This aid can go through [[USAID]], foreign governments, international bodies such as [[World Food Program]], or approved non profit organizations. The [[Agricultural Act of 1949]], section 416 (b) and [[Agricultural Trade Development and Assistance Act of 1954]], also known as Public Law 480 or [[Food for Peace]], provides the legal basis of such actions. Presently, the USDA is a partner of the [[World Cocoa Foundation]].

====Discrimination====
Allegations have been made that throughout the agency's history that its personnel have discriminated against [[African-American]] farmers, denying them loans and access to other programs well into the 1990s.<ref>General Accounting Office, [http://www.gao.gov/archive/1999/rc99038.pdf ''USDA - Problems Continue to Hinder the Timely Processing of Discrimination Complaints''], January 1999</ref> The effect of this discrimination has been the reduction in the number of African-American farmers in the United States.<ref>{{Cite book | last=Brooks | first=Roy L | authorlink=Roy L. Brooks | coauthors= | title=Atonement and Forgiveness: A New Model for Black Reparations | date= | publisher=[[University of California Press]] | location= | isbn=0-520-24813-9 | pages=7–8}}</ref> In 1999, the USDA settled a class action lawsuit, the [[Pigford v. Glickman|Pigford Case]], alleging discrimination against African-American farmers in the late twentieth century. The government's settlement of nearly $1 billion with more than 13,300 farmers was reportedly the largest civil rights claim to date.<ref name="Pickert">{{cite journal|url = http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,2006058,00.html?xid=rss-fullnation-yahoo|title = When Shirley Sherrod Was First Wronged by the USDA|first = Kate|last = Pickert|date = July 23, 2010|work = [[Time Magazine|Time]]}}</ref> The 2008 Farm Bill provided for additional farmers to have their claims heard, as 70,000 had filed late in the original program.<ref name="Pickert"/> In 2010 the federal government made another $1.2 billion settlement in what is called ''Pigford II'' for outstanding claims.<ref name="CRS">[http://www.nationalaglawcenter.org/wp-content/uploads/assets/crs/RS20430.pdf Tadlock Cowan and Jody Feder, "The Pigford Cases: USDA Settlement of Discrimination Suits by Black Farmers"], Congressional Research Service, 14 June 2011, accessed 1 December 2011</ref>

Many black farmers across the nation experienced discrimination in their dealings with U.S. Department of Agriculture agencies in their states. Across the nation, black farmers alleged, and the USDA later agreed, they were denied access to loans and subsidies provided by the government.<ref name="nytimes1">{{cite news|author=Published: April 15, 1999 |url=http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9C05E0D9143BF936A25757C0A96F958260 |title=Judge Approves Settlement for Black Farmers |publisher=New York Times |date=1999-04-15 |accessdate=2013-12-29}}</ref> On a national level, farm subsidies that were afforded to white farmers were not afforded to black farmers.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://abcnews.go.com/WNT/PersonOfWeek/story?id=131844&page=1 |title=ABC World News Tonight (2003) |publisher=Abcnews.go.com |date=2003-11-21 |accessdate=2013-12-29}}</ref> Since they were denied government loans, emergency or disaster assistance, and other aid, many black farmers lost their farms and their homes.<ref>{{cite news|last=Evans |first=Ben |url=http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2008-06-28-1736680923_x.htm |title=(2008) |publisher=USA Today |date=2008-06-28 |accessdate=2013-12-29}}</ref>

Black farmers nationwide joined in a class action discrimination suit against the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA). The first prominent cases were filed in federal court in 1997.<ref name="nationalaglawcenter1">http://www.nationalaglawcenter.org/wp-content/uploads/assets/crs/RS20430.pdf</ref> An attorney called it "the most organized, largest civil rights case in the history of the country."<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/race_relations/jan-june99/farmers_3-2.html |title=PBS The News Hour (1999) |publisher=Pbs.org |date= |accessdate=2013-12-29}}</ref>

That year, black farmers from at least five states held protests in front of the USDA headquarters in [[Washington, DC]].<ref>{{cite book|url=http://books.google.com/books?id=C7QOUqVlu5IC |title=Homecoming: The Story of African-American Farmers - Charlene Gilbert, Quinn Eli - Google Boeken |publisher=Books.google.com |date= |accessdate=2013-12-29}}</ref> Protests in front of the USDA were a strategy employed in later years as the black farmers sought to keep national attention focused on the plight of the black farmers.

That year, representatives of the [[National Black Farmers Association]] met with President [[Bill Clinton]] and other administration officials at the [[White House]]. And NBFA's president testified before the [[United States House Committee on Agriculture]].<ref>{{cite book|url=http://books.google.com/books?id=FywV4yVN5iIC |title=Treatment of minority and limited resource producers by the U.S. Department ... - United States. Congress. House. Committee on Agriculture - Google Boeken |publisher=Books.google.com |date= |accessdate=2013-12-29}}</ref>

In ''[[Pigford v. Glickman]]'' U.S. Federal District Court Judge Paul L. Friedman approved the settlement agreement and consent decree in the case on April 14, 1999.<ref name="nationalaglawcenter1"/> The settlement recognized discrimination against 22,363 black farmers but the NBFA would later call the agreement incomplete because more than 70,000 were excluded.<ref>{{cite book|url=http://books.google.com/books?id=jLKMFlLhCx0C |title=Where Rebels Roost... Mississippi Civil Rights Revisited - Mba Susan Klopfer, Fred Klopfer, Esq Barry Klopfer - Google Boeken |publisher=Books.google.com |date= |accessdate=2013-12-29}}</ref> Nevertheless, the settlement was deemed to be the largest-ever civil rights class action settlement in American history. Lawyers estimated the value of the settlement to be more than $2 billion.<ref name="nytimes1"/> Some farmers would have their debts forgiven.<ref>{{cite web|author=Morning Edition |url=http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=1046266 |title=Black Farmers Lawsuit |publisher=NPR |date=1999-03-02 |accessdate=2013-12-29}}</ref> Judge Friedman appointed a monitor to oversee the settlement.<ref>{{cite news|author=Published: April 15, 1999 |url=http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9C05E0D9143BF936A25757C0A96F958260 |title="Judge Approves Settlement for Black Farmers", The New York Times (1999) |publisher=New York Times |date=1999-04-15 |accessdate=2013-12-29}}</ref>

Farmers in Alabama, Mississippi, Arkansas and Georgia were among those affected by the settlement.<ref>{{cite news| url=http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1355/is_2_97/ai_58411585 }}</ref>

The NBFA's president was invited to testify before congress on this matter numerous times following the settlement including before the [[United States Senate Committee on Agriculture]] on September 12, 2000 when he testified that many farmers had not yet received payments and others were left out of the settlement. NBFA asked Congress to pass legislation that would ensure a full resolution of the discrimination cases.

[[Environmental Working Group]] and NBFA issued a report in July 2004 accusing the USDA of withholding nearly three out of every four dollars in the multi-billion dollar settlement of discrimination cases.<ref>[http://www.ewg.org/reports/blackfarmers Environmental Working Group report (2004)]{{dead link|date=December 2013}}</ref> The report says that the U.S. Department of Justice and the USDA pursued a path of "willful obstruction of justice" in blocking many of the cases. It was later revealed that one DoJ staff "general attorney" was unlicensed while she was handling black farmers' cases.<ref>[http://www.govexec.com/dailyfed/0205/021105lb.htm "Unlicensed hire", Government Executive (2005)]{{dead link|date=December 2013}}</ref> NBFA called for all those cases to be reheard.

In 2006 the [[Government Accountability Office]] (GAO) issued a report highly critical of the USDA in its handling of the black farmers cases.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5362406 |title=National Public Radio (2006) |publisher=Npr.org |date= |accessdate=2013-12-29}}</ref>

NBFA continued to lobby Congress to provide relief. NBFA's Boyd secured congressional support for legislation that would provide $100 million in funds to settle late-filer cases. In 2006 a bill was introduced into the House of Representatives and later the Senate by Senator [[George Felix Allen]].<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/09/29/AR2006092900152.html |title=(2006) |publisher=The Washington Post |date=2006-09-29 |accessdate=2013-12-29}}</ref>

In 2007 Boyd testified before the [[United States House Committee on the Judiciary]] about this legislation.

As the organization was making headway by gathering Congressional supporters in 2007 it was revealed that some USDA Farm Services Agency employees were engaged in activities aimed at blocking Congressional legislation that would aid the black farmers.<ref>[http://obama.senate.gov/press/070808-usda_improper_lobbying/ Office of Senator Obama]</ref>

President [[Barack Obama]], then a U.S. Senator, lent his support to the black farmers' issues in 2007.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://thehill.com/campaign-2008/as-champion-of-black-farmers-obama-could-win-southern-votes-2007-09-19.html |title=The Hill newspaper (2007) |publisher=Thehill.com |date= |accessdate=2013-12-29}}</ref> A bill cosponsored by Obama passed the Senate in 2007.<ref>http://obama.senate.gov/news/071217-senate_votes_to_1/</ref>

The Senate and House versions of the black farmers bill, reopening black farmers discrimination cases, became law in 2008.<ref>{{cite news|last=Evans |first=Ben |url=http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2008-06-28-1736680923_x.htm |title=Associated Press (2008) |publisher=Usatoday.com |date=2008-06-28 |accessdate=2013-12-29}}</ref> The new law could affect up to 74,000 black farmers according to some news reports.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=17722777 |title="Help Ahead for Black Farmers", National Public Radio (2008) |publisher=Npr.org |date= |accessdate=2013-12-29}}</ref>

In 2008 hundreds of black farmers, denied a chance to have their cases heard in the Pigford settlement, filed a new lawsuit against USDA.<ref>{{cite news|author=Written By BEN EVANS, Associated Press Writer |url=http://www.foxnews.com/wires/2008Jun04/0,4670,BlackFarmersLawsuit,00.html |title=(2008) |publisher=FOXNews.com |date= 2012-03-12|accessdate=2013-12-29}}</ref>

Later in 2008, the GAO issued a new report sharply critical of the USDA's handling of discrimination complaints.<ref>{{cite web|last=Etter |first=Lauren |url=http://s.wsj.net/article/SB122472492972861173.html |title="USDA Faulted Over Minority Farmers", The Wall Street Journal (2008) |publisher=S.wsj.net |date=2008-10-23 |accessdate=2013-12-29}}</ref> The GAO recommended an oversight review board to examine civil rights complaints.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/10/22/AR2008102203198.html |title="USDA Action On Bias Complaints Is Criticized", The Washington Post (2008) |publisher=Washingtonpost.com |date= 2008-10-23|accessdate=2013-12-29 |first=Darryl |last=Fears}}</ref>

After numerous public rallies and an intensive NBFA member lobbying effort, Congress approved and President Barack Obama signed into law in December 2010 legislation that set aside $1.15 billion to resolve the outstanding Black farmers cases.
<ref>{{cite news|author=By the CNN Wire Staff |url=http://articles.cnn.com/2010-12-08/politics/obama.black.farmers_1_national-black-farmers-association-minority-farmers-glickman-case?_s=PM:POLITICS |title="Obama signs measure funding black farmers settlement", CNN.com (2010) |publisher=Articles.cnn.com |date= 2010-12-09|accessdate=2013-12-29}}</ref> NBFA's John W. Boyd, Jr. attended the bill signing ceremony at the White House.

As of 2013, 90,000 African-American, Hispanic, female and Native American farmers had filed claims, some fraudulent, or even transparently bogus. Lack of documentation is an issue complicated by a practice by the Department of Agriculture of discarding denied applications after only three years. In [[Maple Hill, North Carolina]] the number of successful claimants was 4 times the number of farms with 1 out of 9 African-Americans being paid.<ref name=NYT42512>{{cite news|title=Federal Spigot Flows as Farmers Claim Discrimination|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2013/04/26/us/farm-loan-bias-claims-often-unsupported-cost-us-millions.html|accessdate=April 26, 2013|newspaper=The New York Times|date=April 25, 2013|author=Sharon LaFraniere|quote=...claimants were not required to present documentary evidence that they had been unfairly treated or had even tried to farm.}}</ref>

The result of such longstanding discrimination is that black farmers have been forced out of business at a rate three times faster than white farmers. In 1920, 1 in 7 U.S. farmers was African-American, and now the number is 1 in 100. USDA spokesman Ed Loyd, when acknowledging that the USDA loan process was unfair to minority farmers, has claimed it is hard to determine the effect on such farmers.<ref>{{cite news|date=August 8, 2004|first= Andrew |last=Martin, Washington Bureau |url=http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2004-08-08/news/0408080241_1_national-black-farmers-association-minority-farmers-white-farmers |title=USDA discrimination accused of withering black farmers - Chicago Tribune |publisher=Articles.chicagotribune.com |date=2004-08-08 |accessdate=2013-12-29}}</ref>


==Operating units==
==Operating units==

Revision as of 18:12, 21 April 2014

"USDA" redirects here. For other uses, see USDA (disambiguation).
United States Department of Agriculture
Seal of the Department of Agriculture
Logo of the USDA

The Jamie L. Whitten Building in Washington D.C.
Agency overview
FormedMay 15, 1862; 162 years ago (1862-05-15)
Cabinet status: February 15, 1889
Preceding agency
  • Agricultural Division
JurisdictionFederal government of the United States
HeadquartersJamie L. Whitten Building
1301 Independence Avenue, S.W., Washington, D.C.
38°53′16.58″N 77°1′48.12″W / 38.8879389°N 77.0300333°W / 38.8879389; -77.0300333
Employees105,778 (June 2007)
Annual budgetUS$109.3 billion (2009)
US$129.3 billion (est. 2010)
US$132.3 billion (est. 2011)
Agency executives
WebsiteUSDA.gov

The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), also known as the Agriculture Department, is the U.S. federal executive department responsible for developing and executing federal government policy on farming, agriculture, forestry, and food. It aims to meet the needs of farmers and ranchers, promote agricultural trade and production, work to assure food safety, protect natural resources, foster rural communities and end hunger in the United States and abroad.

The current head, the Secretary of Agriculture, is Tom Vilsack.

History

Harvey Washington Wiley, Chief Chemist of the Department of Agriculture’s Division of Chemistry (third from the right) with his staff, not long after he joined the division in 1883

Origins

Early in its history, the economy of the United States was largely agrarian. Officials in the federal government had long sought new and improved varieties of seeds, plants and animals for importation to the United States. In 1837 Henry Leavitt Ellsworth, a Yale-educated attorney interested in improving agriculture, became Commissioner of Patents, a position within the Department of State. He soon began collecting and distributing new varieties of seeds and plants through members of the Congress and agricultural societies. In 1839, Congress established the Agricultural Division within the Patent Office and allotted $1,000 for "the collection of agricultural statistics and other agricultural purposes."

Ellsworth's interest in aiding agriculture was evident in his annual reports that called for a public depository to preserve and distribute the various new seeds and plants, a clerk to collect agricultural statistics, the preparation of statewide reports about crops in different regions, and the application of chemistry to agriculture. Ellsworth's agricultural focus earned him the sobriquet of "The Father of the Department of Agriculture."

In 1849, the Patent Office was transferred to the newly created Department of the Interior. In the ensuing years, agitation for a separate bureau of agriculture within the department or a separate department devoted to agriculture kept recurring.

Formation and subsequent history

On May 15, 1862, Abraham Lincoln established the independent Department of Agriculture to be headed by a Commissioner without Cabinet status.[1] Lincoln called it the "people's department." In the 1880s, varied advocacy groups were lobbying for Cabinet representation. Business interests sought a Department of Commerce and Industry, and farmers tried to raise the Department of Agriculture to Cabinet rank. In 1887, the House of Representatives and Senate passed bills giving Cabinet status to the Department of Agriculture and Labor, but the bill was defeated in conference committee after farm interests objected to the addition of labor. Finally, on February 9, 1889, President Grover Cleveland signed a bill into law elevating the Department of Agriculture to Cabinet level.[2]

In 1887, the Hatch Act provided for the federal funding of agricultural experiment stations in each state. The Smith-Lever Act of 1914 then funded cooperative extension services in each state to teach agriculture, home economics and related subjects to the public. With these and similar provisions, the USDA reached out to every county of every state.

During the Great Depression, farming remained a common way of life for millions of Americans. The Department of Agriculture was crucial[citation needed] to providing concerned persons with the assistance that they needed to make it through this difficult period, helping to ensure that food continued to be produced and distributed to those who needed it, assisting with loans for small landowners, and contributing to the education of the rural youth.

Today, many of the programs concerned with the distribution of food and nutrition to people of America and providing nourishment as well as nutrition education to those in need are run and operated under the USDA Food and Nutrition Service. Activities in this program include the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, which provides healthy food to over 40 million low-income and homeless individuals and families each month,.[3] USDA is a member of the United States Interagency Council on Homelessness,[4] where it is committed to working with other agencies to ensure these mainstream benefits are accessed by those experiencing homelessness.

The USDA also is concerned with assisting farmers and food producers with the sale of crops and food on both the domestic and world markets. It plays a role in overseas aid programs by providing surplus foods to developing countries. This aid can go through USAID, foreign governments, international bodies such as World Food Program, or approved non profit organizations. The Agricultural Act of 1949, section 416 (b) and Agricultural Trade Development and Assistance Act of 1954, also known as Public Law 480 or Food for Peace, provides the legal basis of such actions. Presently, the USDA is a partner of the World Cocoa Foundation.

Discrimination

Allegations have been made that throughout the agency's history that its personnel have discriminated against African-American farmers, denying them loans and access to other programs well into the 1990s.[5] The effect of this discrimination has been the reduction in the number of African-American farmers in the United States.[6] In 1999, the USDA settled a class action lawsuit, the Pigford Case, alleging discrimination against African-American farmers in the late twentieth century. The government's settlement of nearly $1 billion with more than 13,300 farmers was reportedly the largest civil rights claim to date.[7] The 2008 Farm Bill provided for additional farmers to have their claims heard, as 70,000 had filed late in the original program.[7] In 2010 the federal government made another $1.2 billion settlement in what is called Pigford II for outstanding claims.[8]

Many black farmers across the nation experienced discrimination in their dealings with U.S. Department of Agriculture agencies in their states. Across the nation, black farmers alleged, and the USDA later agreed, they were denied access to loans and subsidies provided by the government.[9] On a national level, farm subsidies that were afforded to white farmers were not afforded to black farmers.[10] Since they were denied government loans, emergency or disaster assistance, and other aid, many black farmers lost their farms and their homes.[11]

Black farmers nationwide joined in a class action discrimination suit against the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA). The first prominent cases were filed in federal court in 1997.[12] An attorney called it "the most organized, largest civil rights case in the history of the country."[13]

That year, black farmers from at least five states held protests in front of the USDA headquarters in Washington, DC.[14] Protests in front of the USDA were a strategy employed in later years as the black farmers sought to keep national attention focused on the plight of the black farmers.

That year, representatives of the National Black Farmers Association met with President Bill Clinton and other administration officials at the White House. And NBFA's president testified before the United States House Committee on Agriculture.[15]

In Pigford v. Glickman U.S. Federal District Court Judge Paul L. Friedman approved the settlement agreement and consent decree in the case on April 14, 1999.[12] The settlement recognized discrimination against 22,363 black farmers but the NBFA would later call the agreement incomplete because more than 70,000 were excluded.[16] Nevertheless, the settlement was deemed to be the largest-ever civil rights class action settlement in American history. Lawyers estimated the value of the settlement to be more than $2 billion.[9] Some farmers would have their debts forgiven.[17] Judge Friedman appointed a monitor to oversee the settlement.[18]

Farmers in Alabama, Mississippi, Arkansas and Georgia were among those affected by the settlement.[19]

The NBFA's president was invited to testify before congress on this matter numerous times following the settlement including before the United States Senate Committee on Agriculture on September 12, 2000 when he testified that many farmers had not yet received payments and others were left out of the settlement. NBFA asked Congress to pass legislation that would ensure a full resolution of the discrimination cases.

Environmental Working Group and NBFA issued a report in July 2004 accusing the USDA of withholding nearly three out of every four dollars in the multi-billion dollar settlement of discrimination cases.[20] The report says that the U.S. Department of Justice and the USDA pursued a path of "willful obstruction of justice" in blocking many of the cases. It was later revealed that one DoJ staff "general attorney" was unlicensed while she was handling black farmers' cases.[21] NBFA called for all those cases to be reheard.

In 2006 the Government Accountability Office (GAO) issued a report highly critical of the USDA in its handling of the black farmers cases.[22]

NBFA continued to lobby Congress to provide relief. NBFA's Boyd secured congressional support for legislation that would provide $100 million in funds to settle late-filer cases. In 2006 a bill was introduced into the House of Representatives and later the Senate by Senator George Felix Allen.[23]

In 2007 Boyd testified before the United States House Committee on the Judiciary about this legislation.

As the organization was making headway by gathering Congressional supporters in 2007 it was revealed that some USDA Farm Services Agency employees were engaged in activities aimed at blocking Congressional legislation that would aid the black farmers.[24]

President Barack Obama, then a U.S. Senator, lent his support to the black farmers' issues in 2007.[25] A bill cosponsored by Obama passed the Senate in 2007.[26]

The Senate and House versions of the black farmers bill, reopening black farmers discrimination cases, became law in 2008.[27] The new law could affect up to 74,000 black farmers according to some news reports.[28]

In 2008 hundreds of black farmers, denied a chance to have their cases heard in the Pigford settlement, filed a new lawsuit against USDA.[29]

Later in 2008, the GAO issued a new report sharply critical of the USDA's handling of discrimination complaints.[30] The GAO recommended an oversight review board to examine civil rights complaints.[31]

After numerous public rallies and an intensive NBFA member lobbying effort, Congress approved and President Barack Obama signed into law in December 2010 legislation that set aside $1.15 billion to resolve the outstanding Black farmers cases. [32] NBFA's John W. Boyd, Jr. attended the bill signing ceremony at the White House.

As of 2013, 90,000 African-American, Hispanic, female and Native American farmers had filed claims, some fraudulent, or even transparently bogus. Lack of documentation is an issue complicated by a practice by the Department of Agriculture of discarding denied applications after only three years. In Maple Hill, North Carolina the number of successful claimants was 4 times the number of farms with 1 out of 9 African-Americans being paid.[33]

The result of such longstanding discrimination is that black farmers have been forced out of business at a rate three times faster than white farmers. In 1920, 1 in 7 U.S. farmers was African-American, and now the number is 1 in 100. USDA spokesman Ed Loyd, when acknowledging that the USDA loan process was unfair to minority farmers, has claimed it is hard to determine the effect on such farmers.[34]

Operating units

The Beagle Brigade are part of the USDAs Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service. This piece of luggage at Washington Dulles International Airport may contain contraband.

Active

Inactive

The Secretary of Agriculture's office is located in the Jamie L. Whitten Building.
USDA Visitor's Center in the Jamie L. Whitten Building.

Important legislation setting policy of the USDA includes the:

See also

Notes and references

  1. ^ 12 Stat. 387, now codified at 7 U.S.C. § 2201.
  2. ^ 25 Stat 659 (February 9, 1889)
  3. ^ "FNS Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP)". Fns.usda.gov. 2013-06-21. Retrieved 2013-12-29.
  4. ^ Member Agency | United States Interagency Council on Homelessness (USICH)
  5. ^ General Accounting Office, USDA - Problems Continue to Hinder the Timely Processing of Discrimination Complaints, January 1999
  6. ^ Brooks, Roy L. Atonement and Forgiveness: A New Model for Black Reparations. University of California Press. pp. 7–8. ISBN 0-520-24813-9. {{cite book}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
  7. ^ a b Pickert, Kate (July 23, 2010). "When Shirley Sherrod Was First Wronged by the USDA". Time.
  8. ^ Tadlock Cowan and Jody Feder, "The Pigford Cases: USDA Settlement of Discrimination Suits by Black Farmers", Congressional Research Service, 14 June 2011, accessed 1 December 2011
  9. ^ a b Published: April 15, 1999 (1999-04-15). "Judge Approves Settlement for Black Farmers". New York Times. Retrieved 2013-12-29.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  10. ^ "ABC World News Tonight (2003)". Abcnews.go.com. 2003-11-21. Retrieved 2013-12-29.
  11. ^ Evans, Ben (2008-06-28). "(2008)". USA Today. Retrieved 2013-12-29.
  12. ^ a b http://www.nationalaglawcenter.org/wp-content/uploads/assets/crs/RS20430.pdf
  13. ^ "PBS The News Hour (1999)". Pbs.org. Retrieved 2013-12-29.
  14. ^ Homecoming: The Story of African-American Farmers - Charlene Gilbert, Quinn Eli - Google Boeken. Books.google.com. Retrieved 2013-12-29.
  15. ^ Treatment of minority and limited resource producers by the U.S. Department ... - United States. Congress. House. Committee on Agriculture - Google Boeken. Books.google.com. Retrieved 2013-12-29.
  16. ^ Where Rebels Roost... Mississippi Civil Rights Revisited - Mba Susan Klopfer, Fred Klopfer, Esq Barry Klopfer - Google Boeken. Books.google.com. Retrieved 2013-12-29.
  17. ^ Morning Edition (1999-03-02). "Black Farmers Lawsuit". NPR. Retrieved 2013-12-29.
  18. ^ Published: April 15, 1999 (1999-04-15). ""Judge Approves Settlement for Black Farmers", The New York Times (1999)". New York Times. Retrieved 2013-12-29.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  19. ^ http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1355/is_2_97/ai_58411585. {{cite news}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  20. ^ Environmental Working Group report (2004)[dead link]
  21. ^ "Unlicensed hire", Government Executive (2005)[dead link]
  22. ^ "National Public Radio (2006)". Npr.org. Retrieved 2013-12-29.
  23. ^ "(2006)". The Washington Post. 2006-09-29. Retrieved 2013-12-29.
  24. ^ Office of Senator Obama
  25. ^ "The Hill newspaper (2007)". Thehill.com. Retrieved 2013-12-29.
  26. ^ http://obama.senate.gov/news/071217-senate_votes_to_1/
  27. ^ Evans, Ben (2008-06-28). "Associated Press (2008)". Usatoday.com. Retrieved 2013-12-29.
  28. ^ ""Help Ahead for Black Farmers", National Public Radio (2008)". Npr.org. Retrieved 2013-12-29.
  29. ^ Written By BEN EVANS, Associated Press Writer (2012-03-12). "(2008)". FOXNews.com. Retrieved 2013-12-29.
  30. ^ Etter, Lauren (2008-10-23). ""USDA Faulted Over Minority Farmers", The Wall Street Journal (2008)". S.wsj.net. Retrieved 2013-12-29.
  31. ^ Fears, Darryl (2008-10-23). ""USDA Action On Bias Complaints Is Criticized", The Washington Post (2008)". Washingtonpost.com. Retrieved 2013-12-29.
  32. ^ By the CNN Wire Staff (2010-12-09). ""Obama signs measure funding black farmers settlement", CNN.com (2010)". Articles.cnn.com. Retrieved 2013-12-29. {{cite news}}: |author= has generic name (help)
  33. ^ Sharon LaFraniere (April 25, 2013). "Federal Spigot Flows as Farmers Claim Discrimination". The New York Times. Retrieved April 26, 2013. ...claimants were not required to present documentary evidence that they had been unfairly treated or had even tried to farm.
  34. ^ Martin, Washington Bureau, Andrew (2004-08-08). "USDA discrimination accused of withering black farmers - Chicago Tribune". Articles.chicagotribune.com. Retrieved 2013-12-29.
  35. ^ a b "Records of the Bureau of Plant Industry, Soils, and Agricultural Engineering [BPISAE]: Administrative History". Archives.gov. Retrieved 2013-12-29.
  36. ^ Established in 1886 according to Griesbach, Rob "BARC History: Bureau of Plant Industry"

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