Contact: Heather Gray or Jerry Pennick
404 765 0991
hlgray@mindspring.com
www.federation.coop

In survey completed by the Federation of Southern Cooperatives/Land Assistance Fund a few years ago (2001)  and funded by the USDA's Risk Management Agency, we have realized that many of the findings would likely be helpful to other farm groups and we will begin reporting on them periodically. In the project we wanted to assess the progress of Risk Management education and implementation of some risk management tools such as crop  insurance.

ATLANTA ...(January 18, 2004)   Given the wide-spread distribution across the southeast United States of the respondents participating in the survey, it is likely that the findings can be extrapolated to the general population of Black farmers.

The results of the survey demonstrated a striking "disconnect" between small family farmers and access to farm programs. This is not a surprising result, of course. However, it was found that the percentages of those farming on larger acreage and those who had purchased crop insurance were remarkably parallel. In summary, farmers with larger acreage were taking advantage of farm programs. The small farmer was left out of the mix.

The fact that Black farmers with comparatively more resources were more likely to access many of the programs at USDA is probably because programs are in place for them, unlike farmers with fewer resources. USDA and private institutions, as well, are more likely to have programs in place for large row crop farmers such as crop insurance, technological advancements, and programs for major commodities, to name but a few. Interestingly, the survey also revealed more stress experienced by those farming on large acreage and purchasing crop insurance compared to others. They were less likely to feel comfortable with their debt level and also more of them appeared to feel discriminated against by USDA. Participation in farm programs does not, therefore, provide a comfort level for active farmers, many of whom also had off-farm jobs.

Of all risk areas, marketing appears to be the most problematic. Writing plans and contracting in advance of planting were rare practices. Also, access to markets for small Black farmers remains a problem as many were marketing in areas where the return was limited.

It is encouraging that many farmers growing crops that are covered under the Federation Crop Insurance Corporation are taking advantage of this important risk management tool. In fact, in virtually every area, perhaps with the exception of marketing, these farmers fare well in managing their risks. Most of them are also taking advantage of workshops and other educational tools available to them. 

It was found, therefore, that if programs are available to Black farmers to enhance their farm production, it is clear they will attempt to access these programs, sometimes in the face of enormous odds. The challenge, however, remains to reach out to and provide programs for the smaller produce farmers.

It is important to note that there was also a significant relationship with receiving risk management training on the purchase of crop insurance. For a number of years the Federation/LAF has held risk management workshops across the south and distributed materials on risk issues as well as information on crop insurance deadlines. We have done so primarily in partnership with the USDA's Risk Management Agency (RMA). 

Summary: In this survey 338 black farmers throughout the south were interviewed. Here are  some of the basic demographics of these black farmer respondents: 90% of the respondents were male; 31% of the respondents were under the age of 49 and 69% were from 50-93 yeas old. 46% had purchased crop insurance in the past 5 years; there was a fairly even distribution of the length time the respondents had farmed with the largest group (24%) having farmed 41 years or more; most of the farmers in the sample (56%) farmed 100 acres or less; most of the farmer  (69%) owned from 1 to 100 acres of land; only 20% of the respondents reported receiving an FSA loan in the past 5 years; and 42% said that farming was their principle income.

Note: The Federation, now in its 37th year,  assists Black family farmers across the South with farm management, debt restructuring, alternative crop suggestions, marketing expertise and a whole range of services to ensure family farm survivability.