Reps. Adams and Brown Announce GAO Report on Policy Considerations for a Potential Farm Credit System Grant Program
WASHINGTON, D.C. (Friday, December 15, 2023) – Today, Congresswoman Alma S. Adams, Ph.D. (NC-12) and Congresswoman Shontel Brown (OH-11) announced the Government Accountability Office’s (GAO) publication of a report outlining policy considerations for establishing a grant program at the Farm Credit System (FCS) geared toward socially disadvantaged farmers and ranchers.
“We need more Black farmers,” said Congresswoman Adams, a senior member of the House Agriculture Committee and the House sponsor of the Justice for Black Farmers Act of 2023. “This report offers compelling considerations for what a grant program focused on underserved farmers might look like within the Farm Credit System, whose mission is dedicated to the public interest. The findings of this report offer insights into what could be one part of the many solutions we need to promote equity in our food and agriculture sectors.”
As a government-sponsored enterprise that provides credit and other assistance to farmers, stakeholders suggest the Farm Credit System could benefit farmers who have historically been shut out of U.S. agriculture by generations of dispossession and discrimination.
“Helping more Black farmers and ranchers succeed would be good for America, good for agriculture, and Black communities across the country,” said Congresswoman Brown. “Increased diversity would not only repair some of the damage done in the past, it would make the industry more resilient and innovative, because there is a lot of room to grow, including with urban farming. As a member of the House Committee on Agriculture, I’ve been proud to work alongside Congresswoman Adams and my colleagues to shine a spotlight on this issue. This GAO report is a starting point for informing the policy discussions we should have going forward.”
Just as the Federal Home Loan Bank System’s Affordable Housing Program helps finance affordable housing through interest rate subsidies and grants, advocates argue that a farmer-focused grant program within FCS banks could help fund the purchase of farmland by new and beginning farmers, promote the purchase of locally- and regionally-produced foods, or help farmers invest in climate-smart agricultural practices that are good for both the environment and the economy, among other benefits.
The report offers thorough considerations and challenges for policy – crafted in close collaboration with relevant stakeholders – that would undertake the task of establishing a grant program, including:
- How program size and funding would affect FCS’s mission,
- Legal challenges that such a program could face if designed improperly,
- How a program would overlap and interact with existing federal programs, and
- Experiential, infrastructural, and staffing barriers to establishing a new program.
The report is available on the GAO’s website, and a one-page summary of the report is available here. The report was written by GAO in response to a letter sent by Congresswoman Adams, Congresswoman Brown, House Appropriations Committee Ranking Member Rep. Rosa DeLauro (CT-03), and Agriculture Appropriations Subcommittee Ranking Member Rep. Sanford D. Bishop, Jr. (GA-02) last year.
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Congresswoman Alma S. Adams, Ph.D. represents North Carolina's 12th Congressional District (Charlotte, Mecklenburg County, Cabarrus County) and serves on the House Committee on Agriculture and the House Committee on Education & the Workforce, where she serves as ranking member of the Workforce Protections Subcommittee.