AskUSDA (2024)

FAQs

What is the USDA black farmer lawsuit? ›

Glickman class action lawsuit against the USDA. The 1999 lawsuit alleged that in myriad ways the agency discriminated against Black farmers resulting in uneven distribution of farm loans and assistance. This caused many Black farmers to lose their land and farms to foreclosure.

The guidance resource, askFSIS, is a Web-based computer application, designed to respond to technical and policy-related questions from FSIS inspectors, industry, consumers, other stakeholders, and the public.

​​​ AskUSDA is a contact center that answers general inquiries from the public using trained agents and self-service options. To date, AskUSDA has partnered with 19 agencies to improve the customer experience offered to the public.

Today, the U.S. Department of Agriculture estimates there are roughly 40,000 Black farmers in America, owning less than one percent of our nation's farmland as compared to roughly 95 percent of farmland owned by their white counterparts.

Texas has more black farmers than any other state, but they make up only 3 percent of the state's total farmers. Black farmers make up a larger share of total farmers in Mississippi (12%), Louisiana (7%), South Carolina (7%), Alabama (6%), and Georgia (4%).

The Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS), an agency of the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), is the public health regulatory agency responsible for ensuring that United States' commercial supply of meat, poultry, and egg products is safe, wholesome, and correctly labeled and packaged.

FSIS protects public health by preventing illness from meat, poultry and egg products. We do this by ensuring these products are safe, wholesome and properly labeled.

FDA, through its Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition (CFSAN), regulates foods other than the meat, poultry, and egg products regulated by FSIS. FDA is also responsible for the safety of drugs, medical devices, biologics, animal feed and drugs, cosmetics, and radiation emitting devices.

These scammers try to pressure customers into giving them money or personal information. Scam callers can fake or “spoof” the caller identification (ID) on your phone, making it seem the call is legitimate. A USDA caller ID number appearing on your phone does NOT mean the person calling you is actually a USDA employee.

Who controls the US Department of Agriculture? ›

Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack.

USDA provides critical nutrition assistance through Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) programs that include child nutrition programs, the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), and emergency food assistance among many other programs.

WASHINGTON, Jan. 8, 2024 – The U.S. Department of Agriculture reminds farmers, ranchers and forest landowners that January 13, 2024, is the deadline to apply for the Discrimination Financial Assistance Program (DFAP). This program is made possible by the Inflation Reduction Act, which provided $2.2 billion in funding.

In the 2021 American Rescue Plan, the massive COVID-19 relief package, $4 billion was allotted to debt relief for Black farmers. Some white farmers filed a lawsuit claiming discrimination, and the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act revoked the promised funds and created a race-neutral program instead.

Here's how it works

Send black farmers application via email, link, or fax. You can also download it, export it or print it out. Type text, add images, blackout confidential details, add comments, highlights and more. Draw your signature, type it, upload its image, or use your mobile device as a signature pad.

Empower HBCUs and Advocates for Black farmers: The Act provides substantial resources to 1890s and to nonprofits who serve Black farmers so that they can provide pro bono assistance in identifying land for USDA to purchase and provide as land grants, help new Black farmers get up and running, provide farmer training, ...