Rural Coalition

Farm and Food Policy Diversity Initiative Policy Priorities Discussion Paper

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Congress is moving forward on creating the 2007 Farm Bill.

To sign on in support of these priorities, or to join our email list serve, please email lpicciano@ruralco.org. Specify: Sign on, Diversity Platform, or Join email list.

For further information, please contact Savi Horne, Policy Team Chair, Quinton Robinson, or Lorette Picciano by email or at the address above.

FARM AND FOOD POLICY DIVERSITY INITIATIVE POLICY PRIORITIES

Below are the policy priorities recommended by the Farm and Food Policy Diversity Initiative. Your input, participation and support are welcome.

Moratorium on Accelerations and Foreclosures for Socially Disadvantaged Farmers and Ranchers - African American producers have experienced a stunning 97% loss of farms since 1920. The Diversity Initiative supports special strategies and emergency action to stem this loss, and to reduce land loss for American Indian and other socially disadvantaged producers. The most urgent need is an immediate moratorium to protect African American farmers and ranchers who now face imminent foreclosure following inadequate protection and outcomes of civil rights complaints and individual and class action lawsuits. This immediate stay should be applied as well to other filed discrimination cases and administrative complaints that are pending for all socially disadvantaged farmers and ranchers.

In the Farm Bill, we propose that Congress declare a moratorium that provides an immediate stay on all accelerations and foreclosures against all socially disadvantaged farmers and ranchers and establish a review commission to be charged with reviewing all pending actions against socially disadvantaged farmers and ranchers. In addition, Congress should provide clear authority requiring the Secretary to waive interest and offsets, and to write off interest for all such cases during the review; and to forgive loans in cases where government action or inaction led to the foreclosure action.

The purpose of the Socially Disadvantaged Farmer Foreclosure review commission shall be to

Improve upon the credibility and accuracy of the USDA Farm Credit Foreclosure process and procedures,
Determine whether farm land foreclosed and accepted for review by the commission complies with applicable laws or regulations, and
Determine if actions or inactions of the government led to the foreclosure action.
Report programmatic inefficiencies to the House and Senate Agriculture Committee that include recommendations for legal remedies to address wrongful foreclosures against African American and any other socially disadvantaged producers.

Outreach, Equity and Accountability - Outreach focused on socially disadvantaged farmers, with real transparency and accountability are essential to achieving equity at USDA. The Section 2501 Outreach and Technical Assistance Programs remains a core of support for partnerships between USDA and community based organizations and minority serving institutions who have help socially disadvantaged farmers remain on the land. Both support for this program and outreach funds and contracting authority for other USDA agencies needs strengthening. The 10708 Transparency and Accountability provisions in the 2002 farm bill that require USDA to publicly report participation rates of producers in each program, based on race, ethnicity and gender have the potential to help achieve accountability and monitor efficacy of farm programs for socially disadvantaged farmers and ranchers. However, several agencies have stated additional authority is necessary for the data collection needed to respond. Our proposals would:

Significantly increase funding to at least $100 million for the 2501 outreach program for socially disadvantaged farmers and ranchers, make funding mandatory, and operate the program as an outreach rather than competitive grants program. Congress should also allow multi-year agreements and return the program to its original purposes of assisting these farmers and ranchers to access the programs of the department.
Increase support for and expand the Extension Indian Reservation Program to reach and broaden the outreach efforts to all of the reservations.
Expand authority to enter into grants and contracts with community-based organizations to NRCS, the Office of Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights, Farm Service Agency and other agencies as needed.
Strengthen the 10708 Transparency and Accountability requirements in the 2002 Farm Bill including any new authority necessary for each agency data collection to comply with these requirements. Require an annual public report transmitted to Congress, and for data to be presented to the county level in searchable and usable databases.
Secure authority for NRCS, FSA, RD and other USDA agencies to cover the cost of offices on Indian Reservations.
Assure due diligence and accuracy in the Census of Agriculture and ERS studies to accurately document the number, location and economic contributions, including historical contributions, of socially disadvantaged farmers and ranchers in agriculture.
Provide matching funds of 49% to support research and policy centers located at a land grant university representing the 1890s colleges and university, located at a 1994 Tribal college representing 1994 colleges and universities, located at an agriculturally related Hispanic Serving Institutions and representing agricultural related institutions, and located at an agriculturally related Asian-American serving institution. The centers will each be managed in partnership with community-based organizations who represent the socially disadvantaged producers and consumers for each respective policy and research center.

Enhancing Urban Food Systems - The 2007 Farm Bill provides an opportunity to reexamine the relationship between rural and urban America - and to better understand how their futures are intertwined. A large and increasing share of U.S. agricultural production occurs in urban-influenced counties. These highly productive farmlands, which are increasingly threatened by urban sprawl, are used by a new generation of entrepreneurial producers - many of them people of color - to grow, process, and market higher value products into larger cities and towns. Large minority and ethnic populations comprise important new markets for farmers, especially those farming near cities. The 2007 Farm Bill needs to strengthen and support the efforts of people within urban communities who are seeking to play an active role in developing stronger local food systems. Urban agriculture -including market farms, community gardens, and nurseries - can provide employment opportunities and help increase access to fresh, locally produced fruits, vegetables, and other products.

Socially Disadvantaged Farmer and Rancher Initiative - This initiative is a comprehensive legislative approach designed to bring socially disadvantaged producers into USDA programs and to address the following challenges the face: risk management, marketing, credit, transition from tobacco and peanuts and other crops and to organic productions, value added, record keeping, and general farm management. Under this initiative, funding will be provided directly to farmers and ranchers, including farmworkers seeing to become farmers and ranchers, and who meet the criteria in order to carry out the applicable functions.

An Initial payment of $5000 with technical assistance provided to assist the farmer or rancher to prepare IRS schedule F, a farm and home plan, an estate plan, a risk management and conservation plan and other similar tools, and has signed up for crop insurance or NAP and registered at the FSA office, and/or the Minority Farm Registry.
Direct payments of $10,000 to $45,000 per year would be provided for 5 years for specific activities.
Use tiers and requirements of a similar structure to the CSP program with payments tied to benchmarks, requiring sign up for available programs, adoption of conservation practices, and market and cooperative development and the development of value-added enterprises.
Community-based organizations would provide technical assistance.
Authorize and Support the Small Farms Emphasis Program to work across agencies at USDA to assure coordination of services for socially disadvantaged farmers under this program.

Disaster Assistance and Risk Protection - In addition to specific proposals above, there is a general need to meet emergency needs for socially disadvantaged farmers and ranchers and farmworkers in the face of disasters.

The 2007 Farm Bill should provide for the restoration of disaster assistance programs that were discontinued in the 2002 Farm Bill. Such restorations should include provisions to assure that these programs provide direct aid to serve the needs of the majority of socially disadvantaged farmers and ranchers whose diverse production of fresh products and livestock are not covered in existing insurance programs and inadequately covered under the NAP program. Congress should also provide authority to the Secretary to directly provide revenue or other insurance coverage to socially disadvantaged farmers and ranchers whose insurance needs are not met by existing programs.

In addition, the Department should assure that the emergency and other needs of farmworkers be addressed to maintain employment and the availability of this critical workforce in times of disasters:

A USDA Farmworker Coordinator and Office be established as a permanent position and office at USDA.
The emergency disaster assistance grants for farmworkers be located in this office and the program be expanded to meet the needs of farmworkers in disaster situations and provide clear contracting authority to deliver this program through community based organizations with demonstrated experience in serving farmworkers.
Farmworkers are a critical workforce in the food system and their labor is essential to the success of agriculture. Field sanitation and safety conditions and availability of workers and jobs could be improved with better coordination within USDA. As such, the Farmworker Coordinator and office should also serve as a liaison between farmworkers and relevant USDA agencies.

Credit and New Entry/Transition and Succession Farmers - Credit is essential to building a new generation of producers and including new entry producers in the agriculture system, in accommodating producers who wish to transition to alternate crops to improve viability and to assure that succession of ownership between generations. Current beginning farm programs and definitions need to be expanded to better address the needs of new entry and transition and succession socially disadvantaged farmers and ranchers. Credit access in times of disaster is also critical. Among our proposals:

More flexible definitions and more flexible entry-level assistance such as low-documentation loans and accountability for improved participation of all farmers.
Provide authority to the Secretary to waive interest accrual and offsets for up a specified period for farmers in a federally declared disaster area, and in the case of civil rights matters.
Recognize farmworker experience to help farmworkers enter agriculture as producers.
The interest rate provision should be set at 4 percent below the regular direct farm ownership interest rates or one percent, whichever is greater. In addition, the maximum allowable sales price should be updated to reflect new market realities.
Special provisions should be adopted to provide credit to groups of farmers seeking to establish or expand cooperative or other similar enterprises.
Reestablish priority for right of first refusal for socially disadvantaged farmers in access to inventory land, and expansion of the first right of refusal to any family member designated by the farmer or rancher who lost the land.

Conservation - Socially disadvantaged farmers and ranchers have been nearly excluded from conservation programs due to lack of funds and the manner in which conservation programs are administered under the tier system. Under the following legislative proposal, each conservation program would be amended in order to accomplish the following:

Increase funding and expand opportunities in the NRCS Small Farm Initiative for socially disadvantaged farmers and ranchers.
Set aside funds in order to guarantee participation by socially disadvantaged farmers and ranchers and provide authority to NRCS to enter into grants and contracts with qualified community based organizations serving these farmers.
Global cost share across programs should be established at or above 95% for socially disadvantaged farmers and ranchers, and provisions should be adopted to allow up-front payments to these farmers.
Catch up provisions including percentage set asides should be provided to fill in gaps in support for socially disadvantaged farmers and ranchers should be included to provide assistance in key areas such as irrigation.

Farm and Ranch Land Protection - Farmland owned by socially disadvantaged farmers and ranchers is in dire need of access to conservation easements but many socially disadvantaged farm families currently do not participate in state and local FFLP programs. The priority ranking systems used in various states prevent such participation- land owned by socially disadvantaged producers may not rank high enough to secure participation points for tillable land or cropland, proximity to comprehensive plan growth area, development rights, size of parcel, concentration of preserved land.

We propose that the Farm and Ranch Land Protection Program be amended by making it a purpose to protect land owned by socially disadvantaged farmers and ranchers, and creating a new section establishing a Socially Disadvantaged Farm and Ranch Land Preservation Program.

This new section would allow the creation of a new points and rankings system to be used by conservation partners and land preservation groups who represent and serve socially disadvantaged producers. It would provide authority and direct the Secretary of Agriculture to enter into grants and agreements with conservation partners and land preservation groups who represent and have experience working with socially disadvantaged farmers and ranchers. Support would be provided to assist socially disadvantaged farmers and ranchers to purchase development rights. Community based organizations and minority serving education institutions receiving grants under this new section would serve as conservation partners with state and local agencies who currently receive and will rank FFLP applications from individual farm families.

Forestry - Cultural sensitivity, social justice, flexibility, and participation need to be expanded in Forestry programs and policies. The Diversity Initiative recommends:

For forested public lands, the U.S. Forest Service must, in formulating plans and policies, address specifically and consider local, traditional indigenous uses for herb gathering, religious ceremonies, and other historic, culturally sensitive activities, including livestock grazing and historical management.
Implement local indigenous and user group advisory committees to formulate local forest management.
Provide scientific and peer-reviewed rational for range utilization levels in order to increase consistency across management areas.
Allow EQIP funding for conservation activities on public lands that are associated with a private operation/lands/unit to have a categorical exclusion from NEPA requirements.
Increase funds for cost share in order to lower percentage required from landowner at least for socially disadvantaged landowners. Current program percentage requirement is prohibitive for many socially disadvantaged landowners.
Authorize and fund an outreach program for forestry including adequate personnel. This is needed to reach the growing number of current potential forest landowners.
Increase funding for Forest Stewardship program and target 20% to Socially Disadvantaged landowners and expand Community forestry programs to better meet the needs of socially disadvantaged farmers and ranchers.

Food Stamps - Farmworkers and all other legal residents need access to food stamps to fill in gaps in income and employment. The Diversity Initiative proposes that Congress

Protect and expand eligibility for Food Stamps for all legal residents with no waiting period.

Research and Extension - The Diversity Initiative supports more access to research and extension support. Specifically, we seek a Farm Bill that will:

Assure equity in the funding of minority serving educational institutions including 1890 Universities, 1994 Tribal Colleges, and agriculturally related Hispanic and Asian Serving Institutions.
Provide support to community based organization with demonstrated experience in serving farmworkers to conduct regular training and certification of farmworkers on health and safety standards, and in organic and other specialized production.
Meet the needs of urban food systems.

Rural Development - Similarly, socially disadvantaged farmers and ranchers and farmworkers would be served by a Farm Bill that:

Supports adequate access to safe and clean housing for farmworkers

Expand support for Cooperative and Credit Union Development to serve socially disadvantaged farmers and ranchers and farmworkers.

Value Added Funding and Technical Assistance - Socially disadvantaged farmers and ranchers have not been able to take advantage of grant funding under the existing value added competitive grant program. Adding on-farm value to existing farm products is critical to these largely small-scale and diverse producers. The existing value added program will be amended to provide for legislative set asides of at least 10% targeted to socially disadvantaged farmers and ranchers in a national pool with a peer review process similar to that used in the cooperative development program. The Diversity Initiative further supports increased funding for this program if set asides are included.

Energy Programs - Congress should provide set asides and other special initiatives to assure that socially disadvantaged farmers and ranchers have access to the benefits of any new energy packages adopted in the 2007 Farm Bill.

Rev. April 16, 2007