Of the 3.4 million farmers in the United States today, only 45,000 are Black, according to the USDA, down from 1 million a century ago. Black farmland ownership peaked in 1910 at 16 to 19 million acres, about 14 percent of total agricultural land, according to the Census of Agriculture. A century later, 90 percent of that land had been lost.
Picture shows Daryl Minton, 45 year old , black farmer throwing chicken feed.
Black farmers have historically faced lending discrimination when applying for loans from the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Without access to capital, young farmers won't be able to buy or maintain land. To work their way around loans discrimination , young black farmers must consider having daytime or night-time jobs beside their farming activities. Which has helped them to proof based upon those jobs earning that they could repay their loans. This situation creates a new barrier on top of multiple ones that are already harming black famers. Not only they have to run their farms and be productive , but they must also work harder on keeping their jobs outside of farming.