Latino Farm Operators in North Carolina
This research focuses on identifying what the implications are of historical racial discrimination against Black farmers by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) for present and future Latino farmers in North Carolina. The methods used were: telephone interviews with three Latino farmers and four small-farmer advocates, and a survey conducted in Spanish of randomly selected Agricultural Extension sites in North Carolina. USDA Agricultural Census data was utilized to gain quantitative analysis on the number of farms and farm operators in North Carolina. Through the interviews conducted, the data analyzed, and the literature reviewed, I have discovered that there is a fundamental disconnect between the USDA and Latino farmers in North Carolina. Latino farmers interviewed lack of knowledge about USDA services; Agricultural Extension offices surveyed lack language capacity to serve monolingual Spanish speakers; and there is lack of confidence from minority farmers and advocates that the USDA can eradicate discrimination with the current structure utilize to approve credit and benefits for minority farmers. Based on these findings I propose the following three recommendations: 1) Undertake an alternative enumeration to the Agricultural Census to ensure an accurate count of Latino farmers. 2) Conduct further research that examines what factors exist within local level county committee members and county executives that perpetuate discriminatory practices. 3) Build a state level Latino farmer network which can then connect to the nascent National Latino Farmers and Ranchers Trade Association. These efforts should originate at the grassroots level engaging Latino-led organizations and communities.