The administration of President Donald Trump has pulled the plug on a program set up by Joe Biden’s administration in Washington, that established a series of discriminatory standards for farm assistance programs, including schemes to give preferential treatment based on a farmer’s race and gender.
The move makes it literally inevitable that the race- and sex-based discrimination will be struck down.
It is the Washington Examiner that confirmed the U.S. Department of Agriculture, under Trump, has notified a court it is abandoning its defense, launched under Biden’s leadership, of programming that discriminates based on race and gender for loans, commodities and more.
Those elements are the foundation of many of the “diversity, equity, inclusion” programs pushed under the Biden White House.
The publication said it obtained a copy of a court filing in a case brought by the Wisconsin Institute for Law and Liberty.
That organization brought a case on behalf of Wisconsin dairy farmer Adam Faust, and the organization said Faust is one of millions of white male farmers still being subjected to the “prejudicial practices” established under the Biden administration.
Faust had challenged a number of provisions, including a loan guarantee program that insures farm loans against possible financial loss.
“Women and racial minorities can receive a higher guarantee, as much as 95% of the outstanding principal, while white males may only get a guarantee of 90% of a loan’s value,” the report said.
Then there’s the Dairy Margin Coverage Program, which pays producers “when the margin between the price of milk and the average cost of feed falls below a certain coverage level,” the report said.
Enrollees are required by the USDA to pay an annual $100 administrative fee, unless they are “socially disadvantage” in which case they are exempt.
Finally, the report said, “The Environmental Quality Incentives Program awards up to 90% of conservation project costs associated with planning, design, materials, equipment, installation, labor, management, maintenance, and training to ‘socially disadvantaged farmers.’ White male participants, meanwhile, are only entitled to 75% of costs reimbursed.”
The USDA, in fact, has been working to change the programs, as it concluded using “socially disadvantaged” as a standard is “inconsistent” with the Constitution.
It announced it no longer would use those markers for its loan guarantee program and was working on changes to the other two.
The Examiner explained the changes fall “in line with President Donald Trump’s plans to root out any remaining diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives embedded at the federal level.”