The National Black Farmers Association is holding a series of regional meetings aimed at helping minority producers complete applications for the Inflation Reduction Act’s Discrimination Financial Assistance Program.

The first meeting was held Sept. 9 in Starkville, Miss. Additional meetings are scheduled, culminating with the National Black Farmers Association’s annual meeting in Natchez, Miss., Oct. 27 and 28^th.

Section 22007 of the Inflation Reduction Act, signed by President Biden on Aug. 16, 2022, provides $2.2 billion for compensation to minority farmers who experienced discrimination in the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s farm lending programs prior to Jan. 1, 2021. Eligible farmers have until Oct. 31 to submit applications,

“The application is 40 pages with 32 pages of instructions,” said John Boyd Jr., a corn and soybean farmer from Baskerville, Va., who serves as president of the NBFA. “We’re getting a lot of questions, including ones about heirs property, what types of USDA payments count and the availability of records.”

Distribute compensation

Section 22007 authorizing language required USDA to contract with third-party vendors to administer the program and distribute compensation, which is limited to $500,000 per farmer. The vendors have been working with farm organizations, including AgrAbility, Farmer Veteran Coalition, Farmers Legal Action Group; Federation of Southern Cooperatives and the Intertribal Agriculture Council, to help disseminate information about the program.

The National Black Farmers Association is not among those organizations, but it and other groups representing minority farmers have formed a Minority Farmers Network to help get information about the program to farmers who may have experienced discrimination.

The remaining NFBA meetings and locations: