Farmer Fraud

The numbers below are estimates based on different sources, but I believe they are reasonably accurate.

In 1997, 400 black farmers filed a lawsuit against the U.S. Department of Agriculture (Pigford v Glickman), alleging they had been discriminated against in obtaining loans from USDA during the period from 1983-1997. In 1999, USDA settled the case, agreeing to pay each plaintiff $50,000. By then it had grown to a class action suit, and it was agreed that any black farmer who had so much as filed a complaint during the time frame would automatically be paid $50,000. They would not have to prove discrimination.. According to several sources, a total of something over 13,000 black farmers received this settlement. Beyond these, some 70,000 claims were denied because they were filed too late.

Now comes Pigford II, a new settlement announced last February by Attorney General Eric Holder and Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack, allowing those claimants who didn't get money the first time around to collect. Various estimates I've seen of new claimants range from 80,000-90,000. Combining the lower estimate with those who have already been paid, we will now have over 90,000 black farmers who end up with a nice check from the government.

So what, I hear some say. The government discriminated, it should pay. But there's a problem. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, in 1983 (the beginning of the time frame) there were only 19,000 black farmers/farm managers. It is unlikely that the number of black farmers increased in any year since then, given that ownership of farms by both blacks and whites have been declining for decades as big farms gobble up small ones. Even if one assumes that the number of black farmers increased by 10% per year, in order for these claims to be legitimate it would be necessary for every black farmer during the time period to have suffered discrimination at the hands of the USDA, and then some.

This stinks.