Banks say USDA’s debt forgiveness for minority farmers will cost them money and could affect future loans. Black farmers call that a threat.
Three of the biggest US banking groups want the US Department of Agriculture to reconsider the terms of billions of dollars in planned debt relief for minority farmers, claiming it will cut into banks’ profits and warn they may have to cut those same farmers off from future loans.
President Joe Biden’s $1.9 trillion Covid relief package passed in March includes $4 billion to help pay off farm loans for socially disadvantaged farmers and ranchers a group that includes Black and other minority farmers, who have long faced discrimination from lenders and the USDA. The payments will cover up to 120% of outstanding debt for each farmer or rancher, according to the USDA.
Banks say USDA s debt forgiveness for minority farmers will cost them money and could affect future loans Black farmers call that a threat cbs58.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from cbs58.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Banks Fight $4 Billion Debt Relief Plan for Black Farmers
Lenders are pressuring the Agriculture Department to give them more money, saying quick repayments will cut into profits.
Handy Kennedy, a farmer in Cobbtown, Ga., and founder of a cooperative of Black farmers. Debt relief approved by Congress in March aims to make amends for decades of financial discrimination against Black and other nonwhite farmers.Credit.Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images
May 19, 2021, 5:00 a.m. ET
WASHINGTON The Biden administration’s efforts to provide $4 billion in debt relief to minority farmers is encountering stiff resistance from banks, which are complaining that the government initiative to pay off the loans of borrowers who have faced decades of financial discrimination will cut into their profits and hurt investors.
John Deere is teaming up with the National Black Growers Council and others to help Black Famers other underrepresented farmers gain title to their land