For some black farmers who claimed, with good reason, that they were treated unfairly by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, a settlement announced last week to establish a $1.25 billion fund to compensate them will be welcome. But for the descendants of some farmers who have died, this may be regarded as too little, too late.
Basically, because of a suit filed by North Carolina farmer Timothy Pigford in 1992, a number of claims were filed by black farmers who said they were discriminated against by local committees with authority over federal farm programs. Those included short-term loans to plant crops, help from the Farmers Home Administration or getting extensions of their loan payback periods because of natural disasters.
Some of the claims went back to the 1930s. It took a long time to reach settlements, and legal expenses for farmers and their families were considerable.
