Some areas of the nation are more likely than others to have socially disadvantaged farms. That’s coming up on This Land of Ours.
Data from USDA’s Economic Research Service (ERS) shows socially disadvantaged farmers and ranchers tend to be more concentrated in southern and western regions of the country. USDA defines socially disadvantaged farmers as those belonging to groups subject to racial or ethnic prejudice.
In some counties, the proportion of operations classified as racially or ethnically socially disadvantaged is more than 58 percent, such as in parts of Arizona, New Mexico, Texas, and Florida.
Overall, socially disadvantaged farms accounted for 9.4 percent of the two million farms in the United States. In 2017, 1.3 percent of all producers identified themselves as Black or African American only, 1.7 percent identified as American Indian or Alaska Native only, 0.6 percent identified as Asian only, 0.1 percent as Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander only, and 0.8 percent of all producers reported more than one race. In addition, 3.3 percent of all producers of any race indicated Hispanic, Latino, or Spanish origin.
From the National Association of Farm Broadcasting.
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Sabrina Halvorson
National Correspondent / AgNet Media, Inc.
Sabrina Halvorson is an award-winning journalist, broadcaster, and public speaker who specializes in agriculture. She primarily reports on legislative issues and hosts The AgNet Weekly podcast. Sabrina is a native of California’s agriculture-rich Central Valley.