WASHINGTON - After more than three years of work seeking recourse for black farmers whose claims were never heard in the Pigford case against the U.S. Department of Agriculture, those farmers will now have an opportunity for justice with the passage of the farm bill reauthorization.

Congressional negotiators, including U.S. Representative Artur Davis (D-Ala.) reached a compromise on the final framework of the black farmers’ bill, which was later added as a section to H.R. 2419, The Farm, Nutrition and Bioenergy Act of 2007. The bill passed the House by a vote of 231-191.

Significantly, two of the three major provisions in the section pertaining to the black farmers’ issue--the mandatory disclosure of comparator data and protections for Pigford litigants facing foreclosure-- were contained in legislation introduced in the last two sessions of Congress by Davis.  In last minute negotiations, Davis successfully obtained language permitting two evidentiary tracks for farmers seeking relief. 

“The inclusion of this Pigford provision in the Farm Bill marks the culmination of three years of work by my office and by several of my colleagues.  I have already had conversations with Sen. Barack Obama about the prospect of him carrying the Pigford issue in the Senate,” Davis said.

“While I have raised concerns about requiring farmers to advance their claims in U.S. District Court rather than through an administrative process, the availability of two tracks with two standards of proof and the mandatory disclosure of the evidence farmers need to prove their case gives farmers a legitimate shot at prevailing in court.”

      Provisions of the Pigford section of the Farm Bill

(1)   Late Pigford filers will be permitted to file claims in United States District Court.  These individuals will have the option of filing for damages of $50,000 (plus a discharge of any debt incurred as a result of U.S.D.A. discrimination) with a lower standard of proof, or pursuing claims for unlimited damages under the higher “preponderance of the evidence” standard that ordinarily governs civil cases. 

(2)   The U.S.D.A. will be required to disclose data describing the result of loan applications by similarly situated farmers within the litigant’s U.S.D.A. district, during a period of one year before and one year after the litigant’s application was denied.

(3)   Any Pigford litigant eligible for relief under this bill may delay action on a loan foreclosure if the litigant can make a showing that the foreclosure is related to the underlying claim of discrimination by the U.S.D.A.

(4)  A judgment fund has been created to pay out damages from judgments that may result in this process. 

 “The successful negotiations in the House are a reward for the numerous farmers who have sought a fair chance to have their claims heard,” Davis said.  “It is my hope that the U.S. Department of Agriculture will support this fair compromise and will work to resolve legitimate claims rather than rely on the delays and maneuvers that could still frustrate justice for these farmers.” 

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