NC A&T Leads Efforts to Revitalize Minority Agriculture


February 7, 1997

Greensboro, NC: At the start of this century there were nearly 746,000 black farmers in the United States, and they owned or leased 41.7 million acres of farmland. As the 20th century draws to a close, the number of black farmers has declined to less than 19,000, and black-owned farmland to less than 2.3 million acres. Despite the discouraging numbers, efforts to resolve the problem are underway.

"The presence of minorities in agriculture has suffered for a number of reasons," said Dr. Daniel D.Godfrey, dean of the North Carolina A&T State University School of Agriculture. "Competition from larger farms and increased operating expenses are among the factors which have led to fewer minority-owned farms."

At the same time, however, Godfrey points to the growing enrollment of the A&T School of Agriculture as cause for hope. "We have stepped up efforts to inform young people about the number of tremendous career opportunities open to students with degrees from the School of Agriculture. That, and an increased interest in the environmental and social sciences, have begun to attract many highly qualified minority students to a field in which minorities are underrepresented. Additionally, greater minority presence in high-tech agribusiness should set the groundwork for increased interest among minorities in the entire spectrum of agriculture, including farming."

Godfrey and others from A&T's School of Agriculture recently attended a listening session hosted by U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Dan Glickman. In an effort to better serve minority farmers, USDA hosted 13 listening sessions across the country. These sessions were designed to provide an opportunity for minority and socially disadvantaged farmers to discuss their concerns about USDA program delivery. North Carolina's session was held in Halifax.

"Agriculture overall is strapped for money," said Dr. John M. O'Sullivan, farm management and marketing specialist with NC A&T's Cooperative Extension Program. "The situation is particularly difficult for smaller farms because they don't have the capital and assets necessary to make a lot of money, and borrowing is expensive."

O'Sullivan points out that farmers who only have land and labor are often forced to find outside employment, in addition to farming. This, in turn, leads to less time to pursue more efficient practices or alternative markets.

A lack of information and difficulty in finding partners are other factors cited by O'Sullivan as challenging to small-scale farmers. "There are opportunities for small-scale growers, but often, they are unaware of these opportunities, or they don't have the time to pursue something new."

As an 1890 land-grant institution, the NC A&T Cooperative Extension Program focuses much of its attention on limited-resource audiences. Research, teaching and instruction efforts are aimed toward assisting limited-resource farmers, and toward creating a diverse workforce for today's agriculture.

"We are pleased to see the public take an increased interest in the dwindling number of black farmers," said Godfrey. "The A&T School of Agriculture has been laboring vigilantly to rectify this trend for more than a quarter of a century, and we gladly welcome new allies in the effort."

Referring to the Halifax forum, Godfrey added, "It was also refreshing to note the young farmers, as well as young black female farm heads, who testified in the interest of stronger small-scale agriculture."

In the past, efforts such as the Farm Opportunities Program and the Landownership Information Project created opportunities for minority farmers. The Farm Opportunities Program was considered innovative for its use of one-on one, individualized instruction Ð a progressive alternative to more formalized classroom instruction, which had been unsuccessful in reaching farmers without extensive formal education.

The primary goals of the Landownership Information Project were to disseminate information on the rights and responsibilities of landownership, and to provide consultation and referrals for landowners and farmers when ownership was already in jeopardy.

More recently, A&T Extension has coordinated two extensive efforts to help minority and limited-resource farmers improve their management skills, marketing savvy and record-keeping practices. Project funding is provided by the former USDA Farmers Home Administration (FmHA).

The goal of both educational outreaches was to better equip minority and limited-resource farmers with an understanding of the documentation required by both federal and private sector lending agencies ­ removing a barrier to obtaining credit which often hinders small-scale farmers

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For more information, please contact the North Carolina A&T School of Agriculture, (336) 334-7979.