After the Civil War, the U.S. government promised 40 acres, either from abandoned plantations or unused land, to formerly enslaved Black people. But then President Andrew Johnson intervened. He pardoned Confederates, returning their land.
It became a common theme. In the following decades, some Black farmers gained land through deals with white landowners: After being tenant operators, they could buy acreage, according to a U.S. Department of Agriculture report. But as Jim Crow laws proliferated in the early 19th century, more and more Black farmers were subject to oppressive farming contracts.
In 1920, there were more than 900,000 Black-owned farms in the U.S., many in the South. It wouldn’t last. In the following decades, the number of Black-owned farms nosedived, according to Census of Agriculture data. As of 2022, only about 28,000 farms were owned by Black operators.
While the total number of farms has also decreased over the past hundred years, Black farmers have suffered disproportionately. In 1920, Black-owned farms made up about 15% of all operations. In 2022, the figure was 1.5%.
Much of the decline has been attributed to the USDA, which used to have the nickname “The Last Plantation.” One Black farmer told Mother Jones the USDA was a “machine that eats up Black farmland.”
The National Black Farmers Association has documented the important events. In 1965, the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights found the department, when providing financial assistance, discriminated against Black farmers. Twenty-five years later, a Congressional committee had similar conclusions. In 1997, the landmark Pigford lawsuit was filed, resulting in $1 billion in restitution payments two years later to Black farmers.
But Johnson’s decision to return land to whites that the government had provided to Black farmers has had long-lasting consequences, according to reporting by Mother Jones, Reveal and The Center for Public Integrity. For instance, about 1,000 freed people received tracts of land on Skidaway Island, just off the coast of Savannah, Georgia. Now, it’s a tony white enclave.
Cut off from resources such as land, Black farmers have struggled to obtain funding from the USDA to this day. According to data obtained by NPR, Black farmers are much more likely to be denied loans than their white counterparts.
Notes on the data: Census of Agriculture data can be difficult to compare across time. The USDA has added different categories over the decades to more accurately reflect the make-up of America’s farmers. For instance, the USDA used to only record one operator per farm, which could mask the role of women, according to the study, “How the USDA Changed the Way Women Farmers are Counted in the Census of Agriculture.” Now, multiple operators can be counted.
The recording of farmers’ race was also inconsistent. The number of Black operators was not recorded in the 1935 and 1945 censuses, for example. Until relatively recently, farmers who were not white or Black were lumped together as “other.” This makes it difficult to draw conclusions about the presence of farmers of different backgrounds.
Data Harvest (formerly Graphic of the Week) is Investigate Midwest’s way of making complex agricultural data easy to understand. Through engaging graphics, charts, and maps, we break down key trends to help readers quickly grasp the forces shaping farming, food systems, and rural communities. Want us to explore other data trends? Let us know here.
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