This website is best viewed in a browser that supports web standards.

Skip to content or, if you would rather, Skip to navigation.

Listen Live
Donate
MARYVILLE

KXCV-KRNW


News Brief

Dec. 7, 2022 |  By: AP

Lawsuit brought against federal government by National Black Farmers Association

The federal government has illegally broken a promise to pay off the debts of a group of Black farmers, according to a class-action lawsuit involving farmers across the Midwest.

The group hopes to put pressure on officials to keep their word and to restore funding that was dropped after a group of white farmers filed legal challenges. The lawsuit filed in October remains active even as the USDA moves forward with another effort to help farmers in financial distress in addition to paying farmers who the agency discriminated against.

John Boyd Junior, president of the National Black Farmers Association and one of four plaintiffs in the lawsuit, said that the new programs don’t match the USDA’s earlier offer to pay off 120 percent of the debt of farmers who are socially disadvantaged.