Black farmers can get up to $500,000 if they prove they have been discriminated against

Farmers and ranchers who have experienced discrimination in USDA farm lending have the opportunity to receive up to $500,000 of financial assistance.

How to get the assistance was presented by the Windsor Group LLC on Friday during a Discrimination Financial Assistance Program (DFAP) open house at the Gainesville Technology Entrepreneurship Center (GTEC) at 2153 Hawthorne Road. Free technical assistance is provided by DFAP to farmers, ranchers and forest landowners to apply for financial compensation.

Section 22007 of the Inflation Reduction Act authorized $2.2 billion in financial assistance to farmers and ranchers who experienced discrimination in USDA farm loan programs prior to Jan. 1, 2021, according to DFAP officials.

The application is free and the deadline to apply is Oct. 31.

To apply online, visit 22007apply.gov to access the application, e-file and find resources.

Local office locations and hours of operation for DFAP where applicants can connect with in-person agents for help and drop off completed applications can be found at 22007apply.gov.

Matt Bowman, Region II project manager for the Windsor Group, said this is the largest financial assistance program for farmers who have been discriminated against in the U.S. that has been voluntary and not in the form of a lawsuit.

According to everycrsreport.com, Pigford v. Glickman was a lawsuit against the USDA alleging that it had racially discriminated against Black farmers in its allocation of farms and assistance from 1981 to 1996.

The settlement was for almost $1 billion, which has been paid or credited to fewer than 20,000 farmers under the settlement's consent decree, the largest civil rights settlement until that point.

Bowman said local farmers in the area who are in need of technical assistance in-person can visit GTEC in room 217 from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. seven days a week.

Telephone assistance is available where live agents are available to help with questions about applications at 1-800-721-0970 seven days a week, except for federal holidays.

Bowman said the sooner people know about the application process the better opportunities they have to receive financial assistance.

“I encourage farmers, ranchers and forest landowners to apply electronically because it can identify any errors in the application,” Bowman said. “If you file on paper, you might miss a section in the application.”

Bowman said proving discrimination is a unique process for each applicant and wants farmers to take advantage of the technical support from Windsor Group, a woman-, Black- and veteran-owned company founded in 2017 to provide professional services and business solutions to federal government agencies.

“Once the validity of claims for discrimination is determined, applicants can receive payment,” Bowman said.

Bowman said once his office reviews its farmers’ applications, it will send applications to the National Administrator to review and money will be distributed by December or January at the latest.

Florida is one of several states and locations in Region II, along with Mississippi, Alabama, Tennessee, Ohio, Kentucky, Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands, according to the Windsor Group.

Bowman, a fifth-generation farmer from South Caroline who owns farmland in Micanopy, said the Windsor Group will meet people where they are with its mobile teams.

He said farmers have a unique experience in comparison to other business owners.

“Farming is a unique business,” Bowman said. “You usually pay for everything upfront. In farming, weather and life events can lead to undercapitalization and sometimes loans don’t come through.”

According to Feeding America,  just 1% of farmers in the U.S. identify as Black through statistics it received from the USDA.

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These numbers are down from 1 million Black farmers a century ago. In 1919, Black farmland ownership peaked at 16 to 19 million acres, about 14% of total agricultural land.

A century later, 90% of that land has been lost.

Even though farmers of color now account for only 2% of the agricultural land, Black farmers are drawing strength from their long history of agricultural production to improve their local communities.

“We are very excited to be involved with this important work,” said Diedre Windsor, founder of the Windsor Group. “We have been federally contracted to work with farmers and this is a great opportunity to truly change lives and correct the wrongs.”

The guest speaker during the event was State Rep. Yvonne Hinson, D-Gainesville, who serves District 20 and encompasses East Gainesville, Waldo, Hawthorne, Archer and northern Marion County.

“The federal government and the state of Florida is making an attempt to right its wrongs today,” Hinson said. “The opening of the application process shows its commitment to giving money to those who have been discriminated against. Let’s make sure they stand good on their promise. Let’s thank them (the Windsor Group) for the service they are embarking on.”

Albert Fuller is a farmer based in Levy County who was recently recognized as Florida’s 2022 Jon Gould Outstanding Tree Farmer of the Year.

Fuller, who Black, said he worked at the USDA and ever since he became a farmer, he has experienced first-hand two sides of the spectrum.

“I work with them (farmers) and teach them how to keep land and make it productive,” Fuller said. “A farmer was trying to get a loan for three years from the USDA and was denied for two years. When he went to D.C. about the loan, within days he got a response and the loan. I was on the inside and I know the ins and outs.”

Howard Gunn, 63, is a Black farmer based in Ocala who has been farming ever since he was nine years old.

“It is long overdue,” Gunn said, referring to DFAP's application process.

Gunn said he hopes farmers take advantage of this opportunity to receive financial assistance from the USDA.

“I want them to apply based on their loss of land access and capital loss in land,” Gunn said. “You may never get the land back, but we hope it is a step forward to correct the wrongs that were made.”

This article originally appeared on The Gainesville Sun: Program helping Black farmers has office at GTEC in SE Gainesville