FACT BRIEF

Did the USDA data report that the number of Black farmers increased during the Obama years?

Friday, February 19, 2021

By Gus Fisher

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YES

When Thomas Vilsack was Secretary of Agriculture under Barack Obama, he cited 2012 department data noting a 12% gain in the number of Black farmers. Vilsack, who has been reappointed to the post by President Biden, outlined in mid-2016 “big, bold steps to rectify past wrongs” in the government’s treatment of minorities.

In 2017, the department said, the number of Black farm “operators” was up a further 5% from 2012, at 48,697. Black operators represented about 1.3% of all U.S. farmers.

The survey takes place every five years. The Counter, a nonprofit news service, has challenged the accuracy of the 2012 count, noting that it included a 57% “adjustment” to compensate for “undercoverage” and “non-response” in census participants. The Counter says this adjustment led to an overestimate in the actual number of Black farmers.

This fact brief is responsive to conversations such as this one.

Sources

USDA: The People’s Department—A new era for civil rights at USDA (2016)

2012 Census of Agriculture US Department of Agriculture: Black farmers up 12% since 2007

US Department of Agriculture: Black producers up 5% since 2012

Government Accountability Office: Addressing management deficiencies in the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights (2008)

The Counter The Counter: How USDA distorted data to conceal decades of discrimination against Black farmers

2012 Census of Agriculture US Department of Agriculture: Summary of US coverage, nonresponse, and misclassification Adjustments (2012)

US Department of Agriculture: 2017 Agriculture Census—Selected producer characteristics

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