“These checks are in the mail and hopefully on their way to providing health and assistance.”
Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack, he’s talking about over $2 billion worth of checks that are going out to over 43,000 farmers. These are producers who, prior to January of 2021, were discriminated against in dealings with the US Department of Agriculture.
“While this financial assistance is not compensation for anyone’s losses or pain endured, it is an acknowledgement, and my hope is that this financial assistance will help many farmers stay on their farms, contribute to our nation’s food supply and continue to do what they love to do, and for those who were not able to farm or lost their farms, I hope these funds provide some measure of assistance.”
But Vilsack said while this Discrimination Financial Assistance Program has been dealing with past problems of equity and unfair treatment, his department is fully involved in promoting full and fair access to all USDA programs in the here and the now and also into the future.
“What really underpins our efforts at USDA is to improve equity and keep all farmers army.
And he gave one example of what’s going on in USDA Farm Service Agency offices across the country.
USDA wants producers to be aware of the significant changes at the Farm Service Agency. This includes, but is not limited to diversified agency leadership and county committee membership, structure and membership the ability to apply for farm loans and make loan payments online, which is new in 2024 streamlined and shortened loan paperwork requirements and new processes that reduce the need for human discretion in loan decision making.”
Vilsack said these are just a few of the changes being made at USDA, changes he hopes will help to rebuild trust in the department and to…
“Make USDA an equitable and accessible department that truly serves all of our customers.”