Many of the Trump administration’s policies, from tariffs to immigration crackdowns, have negatively impacted farmers throughout the United States. Within this group, Black farmers are in a position to be hit especially hard by these policies, adding to the ways in which Black agriculture has faced disproportionate economic woes.
Economically vulnerable Black farmers face tariff hardships
When Trump upped his aggressive tariff policy in April, leading farm lobbyist groups like the American Farm Bureau Federation and the National Farmers Union warned of the impact on farmers. “One thing is certain, said the president of the NFU, “American family farmers and ranchers will bear the brunt of this global trade war.” And experts like John Boyd, Jr., founding president of the National Black Farmers Association, warned that the impact could be greater on Black farmers due to historic vulnerabilities faced by Black-owned farms. Black farming has steadily declined in the United States. In 1920, Black farmers controlled over 41 million acres of farmland across the U.S., but by 2022, that number had shrank to 3.5 million acres. In total, less than 2% of all farmers in the U.S. are Black. The additional shocks of the tariffs, which are expected to raise prices for consumers while also creating uncertainty in a variety of markets, are likely to hit Black farmers particularly hard.
Past aid to Black farmers gone or threatened under new administration
The vulnerability of Black farmers is magnified by recent pushback against policies meant to redress past wrongs. While the Biden administration paid out $2 billion to address decades of past discrimination against Black and other marginalized farmers, other efforts have been challenged. In 2021, a group of white farmers sued the Biden administration and successfully blocked a loan forgiveness program for “socially disadvantaged farmers,” arguing that it was racist against white farmers. The same group is now suing the Trump administration, arguing that the U.S. Department of Agriculture is continuing Biden-era “diversity, equity and inclusion” programs that provide easier access or more favorable terms to women farmers and members of racial minority groups.
Anti-DEI campaign hits Black farmers
The move comes as the Trump administration’s anti-DEI campaign has stripped back protections against racial discrimination and taken away programs aimed at battling racial disparities. The USDA appears to have removed the content of a post that commented on past discrimination and expressing commitment to civil rights for “marginalized groups.” Recently, Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins cancelled over 100 awards to farmers as part of Trump’s anti-DEI purge, labeling these awards “waste.” Meanwhile, Trump has pushed unfounded conspiracy theories about genocide against white South African farmers, labeling them “refugees” and helping resettle some of them in the United States.
Together, the policies of the Trump administration are hitting American farmers hard and leaving Black American farmers in even more dire financial circumstances. With the hostility of the Trump presidency against efforts to redress past wrongs or level the playing field, things are poised to get worse for Black farmers before they get better.
