Source: POLITCO'S MORNING AGRICULTURE, 3/28/22

A group of Black farmers have won the ability to intervene in the Miller v. Vilsack lawsuit in Texas, one of 13 legal challenges to USDA’s $5 billion debt relief program for farmers of color authorized by the March 2021 Covid-19 relief package.

Let’s recap: The Federation of Southern Cooperatives/Land Assistance Fund in October filed a motion to intervene in the case, including designations from six farmers alleging discrimination from USDA and Farm Service Agency loan programs, as your host and Josh Gerstein previously reported.

The farmers argue that debt relief is key to their businesses’ survival and that Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack and DOJ attorneys can’t be counted on to defend the debt relief program as vigorously as the Black farmer federation will.

Now, a federal appeals court has reversed a previous lower court ruling and allowed the group to enter the case . The decision notes that “a U.S. Secretary would likely heartily deny that their agency is currently discriminating against people based upon race” and therefore groups like the Federation of Southern Cooperatives/Land Assistance Fund might receive inadequate representation.

“This is a critical decision,” said Dania Davy, the group’s director of land retention and advocacy. “By guaranteeing the Federation’s right to intervene, the Court ensured that the ongoing, race-based discrimination our member-farmers continue to face can be entered as evidence in the litigation, which will significantly strengthen the defense of this program’s constitutionality.”

Long road ahead: Although the new decision is a win for Black farmer advocates, there’s still a long way to go before the program could be deemed constitutional. The Biden administration has been apprehensive to appeal to higher courts for fear of endangering other affirmative action programs. Meanwhile, injunctions and temporary restraining orders are still in place in other cases.

“We are contesting those cases,” Vilsack said during USDA’s inaugural Equity Commission meeting last month. “We are working through the system, and eventually, probably in the near future, we may very well be faced with one or more of those cases being decided. We will obviously do what we can to make sure that we pursue this debt relief opportunity.”