#Farmers upset with Biden’s American Rescue Plan Act

In March, President Joe Biden signed the American Rescue Plan Act to uplift those hit hard by COVID-19 and the lockdowns, including farmers and ranchers. But there was a catch: White farmers and ranchers like me needn’t apply. Last week, a federal judge temporarily put the brakes on Biden’s race-based payouts, giving us hope that this injustice can still be made right in the courts. 

Under the ARPA, COVID relief can only go to “socially disadvantaged” farmers and ranchers. The definition of “socially disadvantaged,” found elsewhere in federal law, is brazenly racial. It includes blacks, Hispanics, Asians, Native Americans and Pacific Islanders — just about every race and ethnicity you could imagine, except those who happen to be white.

I’m a sixth-generation rancher and a proud female ranch owner. Biden’s law is seemingly designed to racially humiliate Americans like me.

To qualify under the bill, an applicant or his farm needn’t have experienced racial discrimination. There is not even a requirement that the applicant have suffered any direct economic loss due to the lockdowns. Skin color is the most important consideration.  

Those who qualify are eligible for up to 120 percent debt relief on their farm loan through the Farm Service Agency. You might notice that 120 percent is higher than 100 percent. Yes, the bill offers a windfall to many farmers who might never have personally suffered discrimination in the course of their agricultural business or any serious financial damage from COVID-19.  

Meanwhile, thousands of farmers and ranchers who were badly hurt by the pandemic but don’t have the “correct” skin color are excluded, despite the fact that the nation depends on the food we produce.

Agricultural life is hard, extremely so. We face blizzards, droughts, wildfires, floods and predators, plus market volatility that can wipe out our livelihoods. When times get hard, you tighten your belt and pray next year will be better.   

When my grandparents died, they left behind the ranch and a mountain of debt. We were on the verge of foreclosure. I was only 18 when I applied for a Farm Service Agency loan. As a young single woman, I had nothing to my name and no credit history. An FSA loan was the only source of credit I could access.  

Thanks to that loan, I’m still here. I now run more than 500 head of cattle and grow hay on my 2,400 acres. But COVID-19 took the bottom out of the market.

I was a new mom when the pandemic hit, and I worried about making ends meet. I resorted to selling down some of the herd in a low market. I know many other ranching families who’ve had to do the same. Others have lost their farms, ranches and homes. 

We’re all the same on the inside. But if you treat people differently based on their outward appearance, you’re making assumptions about who they are and where they come from — and what they’ve had to overcome.  

Part of the government’s rationale for this discrimination is that the vast majority of prior COVID-19 farming aid in last year’s CARES Act went to white farmers. But according to the US Census Bureau, 95.4 percent of agricultural producers in the United States are white. And no one disputes that the bipartisan CARES Act was enacted on race-neutral terms.

Unfortunately, that isn’t the case with Biden’s law. 

It’s true that many minority-owned farms are struggling. But my family’s struggles are no less real, and my family is no less deserving of aid. We’ve worked just as hard, and our contributions to our nation’s critical food supply are just as important.

In past decisions, the Supreme Court has made it clear that discriminating in favor of members of a minority group is no more constitutional than discriminating against them. But you don’t have to be a constitutional scholar to know Biden’s law violates fundamental American notions of fairness. That’s why I went to court to challenge Biden’s plan to exclude whites from aid.

You can’t fight past discrimination with more discrimination. But sadly, the president has used this bill as an opportunity to further divide our country. Let’s hope the courts see through Biden’s disordered notion of “social justice,” behind which lies nothing but bigotry.

Leisl Carpenter owns the Flying Heart Ranch in Wyoming’s West Laramie Valley. She is the plaintiff in the federal lawsuit Carpenter v. Vilsack and Ducheneaux.