The Pigford Details Pigford 1, 1997-2000 Pigford 2, 2000 - ....?

Reporting by Jessica Naudziunas The lawsuit: Black farmers claimed
Graphic by Tim Lloyd
About the case
The class-action case behind the black
farmers’ ongoing discrimination saga is
known as Pigford I. It was followed by
Pigford II, which was created to compen-
sate thousands of complaints from black
farmers that were not investigated.
Issue: About 80,000 Pigford I claimants
they suffered years of unchecked racial
discrimination when they applied for
farm assistance through their local U.S.
Department of Agriculture office. The
lawsuit (Pigford v. Glickman) was filed
to account for thousands of mismanaged
discrimination complaints against the
USDA from 1981 to 1996.
Result: The government agreed to an
out-of-court settlement in 1999. Initial
disbursement of checks to qualifying
farmers began in November 1999; late
claims were accepted until Sept 15,
2000.
Eligibility requirements:
failed to have their petitions considered
on the merits.
Action: Two bills were introduced in
Congress to provide relief to these
Pigford I claimants; provisions eventu-
ally were incorporated into the 2008
farm bill.
Result: In February 2010, Congress
approved a $1.25 billion settlement for
those who filed a claim but were denied
in Pigford I.
The holdup: Congress has only appro-
priated $100 million of the settlement.

African-Americans who farmed between

1981 and 1996. Applied for farm loans
or USDA benefits. Never received farm
loans or received them later than they
should have. Made a complaint to the
USDA on or before July 1, 1997.

Approved claimants received either:

Track A- $50,000 and debt relief

Track B- Tailored settlements of varied
amounts

Total disbursed: Almost $1 billion to

just over 20,000 claimants.