Post-COVID, Black Farmers Face Mounting Obstacles to Land Ownership
The growing value of agricultural commodities is attracting deep-pocketed financial investors – like Bill Gates – and pushing land ownership out of reach for many, particularly beginning farmers and farmers of color. According to data from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the average U-S farmland value increased 7% from June 2020 to June 2021, and 12% from June 2021 to June 2022. Comments from Savi Horne, executive director, North Carolina Association of Black Lawyers Land Loss Prevention Project.
Investment money pouring into farmland markets is shrinking the land-acquisition prospects for small farmers. The hefty price tag for good farmland is one of the biggest challenges facing beginning farmers and farmers of color says Savi Horne with the North Carolina Association of Black lawyers’ Land Loss Prevention Project. She explains that since the start of the pandemic, there’s been more pressure for financial institutions and investors to acquire land, driving up costs and complicating the struggle for racial equity in agriculture.
| :18 “Most recently I heard from farmers who were looking at that two years back, in which they were saying that it was under $1,000 per acre, but now in that community, it’s like about $3,000 to $5,000.” |
While some states have enacted regulations restricting the purchase of farmland by corporations, these laws vary in stringency and effectiveness. There are currently no federal laws specifically addressing the purchase of farmland by financial institutions. According to data from the U-S-D-A, the average U-S farmland value increased seven percent from June 2020 to June 2021, and twelve percent from June 2021 to June 2022.
Horne believes the federal government should proactively purchase farmland to level the playing field among farmers, and says it’s in the public’s best interest to create a vibrant and diverse small farm sector.
| :21 “Making land available, acquiring land and making it available. Low cost to no cost to next-generation farmers if they’re really serious about growing next-generation capacity to grow food and to participate in rural communities.” |
She says Black farmers in particular face multiple land-loss threats, including the lack of legal protections for the collective landownership form known as heirs’ property, and the legacy of federal government discrimination in farm lending.
