USDA's Minority Farmer Advisory Committee meeting Nov. 3-4 to finalize recommendations to increase minority participation in agency's programs, services, better serve minority and socially disadvantaged farmers, ranchers

Andrew Rogers

Andrew Rogers

WASHINGTON , November 2, 2011 (press release) – This Thursday and Friday, November 3-4, the members of the USDA Minority Farmer Advisory Committee will meet for the second time to finalize recommendations on increasing minority participation in Department programs and services. Members will focus on supporting USDA by providing comments to Agriculture Secretary Vilsack on ways the Department can better serve minority and socially disadvantaged farmers and ranchers.

The Minority Farmer Advisory Committee is authorized under the Food, Conservation, and Energy Act of 2008 (Farm Bill) and will advise the Secretary on "implementation of section 2501 of the Food, Agriculture, Conservation, and Trade Act of 1990; methods of maximizing the participation of minority farmers and ranchers in USDA programs; and civil rights activities within the Department as such activities relate to participants in such programs." The committee's first meeting took place in Memphis, August 11-12, 2011.

The meeting will be held on Thursday, November 3, 2011 and on Friday, November 4, 2011. The meeting will be open to the public for public comment on November 3, 2011, from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m. The meeting will be located at the Hotel Albuquerque at Old Town, 800 Rip Grande Boulevard NW, Albuquerque, NM 87104. Written comments may be submitted to: Marilou Flores, Designated Federal Officer, Office of Advocacy and Outreach, 1400 Independence Ave., SW, Whitten Bldg., 520-A, Washington, DC 20250, 202-692-0253.

Under Secretary Vilsack's leadership, USDA is addressing civil rights complaints that go back decades to resolve allegations of past discrimination and usher in "a new era of civil rights" for the Department. On October 28, 2011, the U.S. District Court of the District of Columbia approved the historic Pigford II settlement with African American Farmers, and in October 2010, he announced the Keepseagle settlement with Native American farmers. In February 2011, Secretary Vilsack announced the establishment of a process to resolve the claims of Hispanic and women farmers and ranchers. An overview of Secretary Vilsack's comprehensive efforts is available here.

In May 2011, Secretary Vilsack released a Civil Rights Assessment report of USDA's field-based program delivery that was promised in an April 2009 memorandum to employees and details an aggressive plan to promote equal access and opportunity at the department. The report made department-wide recommendations that will help USDA improve service delivery to minority and socially disadvantaged farmers and ranchers, and also suggests agency-specific changes to enhance program delivery and outreach to promote diversity, inclusion and accessibility. A significant number of the recommendations included in the report already have been or currently are being integrated into USDA operations. An internal working group chaired by Secretary Vilsack has been established to implement many of the recommendations within the framework of cultural transformation. While many recommendations can be implemented administratively, some of the recommendations will require policy or statutory changes, and others will need to be considered as part of the 2012 Farm Bill deliberations.

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