Black Farmers And Agriculturalists Association Rejects President Donald Trump’s $12B Farmer Bridge Assistance Program – AfroTech

Black farmers are rejecting President Donald Trump’s Farmer Bridge Assistance Program.

On Dec. 8, it was announced in a press release that the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) was offering $12 billion in one-time bridge payments to assist farmers who have been impacted by market conditions and rising production costs, with the blame placed on the Biden Administration.

Farmer Bridge Assistance Program

Eleven billion dollars of that funding will support the Farmer Bridge Assistance (FBA) Program, which will benefit U.S. row crop farmers producing barley, chickpeas, corn, cotton, lentils, oats, peanuts, peas, rice, sorghum, soybeans, wheat, canola, crambe, flax, mustard, rapeseed, safflower, sesame, and sunflower, notes the release.

The program is intended to support farmers until further investments come from the One Big Beautiful Bill Act on Oct. 1, 2026.

“Four years under the failed Biden Administration continues to leave the American farm economy reeling from record inflation, a depleted farm safety net, and delayed disaster assistance. The lack of new trade deals under the last Administration turned a trade surplus under Trump into a $50 billion trade deficit, causing our farmers to lose markets and feel acute pain from lower commodity prices. President Trump will not let our farmers be left behind, so he directed our team to build a bridge program to see quick relief while the President’s dozens of new trade deals and new market access take effect,” said U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins in the news release.

“The plan we are announcing today ensures American farmers can continue to plan for the next crop year. It is imperative we do what it takes to help our farmers, because if we cannot feed ourselves, we will no longer have a country,” Rollins continued.

The Rejection

The Black Farmers and Agriculturalists Association — which represents farmers, land owners, and heirs of black farmers nationwide — is calling the FBA program “racist,” according to Fox13 Memphis. Thomas Burrell, president of the Black Farmers and Agriculturalists Association, says the program doesn’t consider trade agreements with African countries and doesn’t mention support for farmers who harvest tobacco, sugarcane, peanuts, pork, and livestock, many of whom he said were Black.

The program has also been criticized by Black farmers who have “faced challenges accessing programs requiring enrollment or acreage reporting with the USDA,” notes Black Enterprise.

“Ordinarily, BFAA would not be indifferent to the plight of all farmers,” said Burrell, according to Action News 5.

Burrell also commented that 20 million acres were owned by Black Americans in 1910, but the majority of the land is no longer under their ownership as a result of discriminatory practices.

“So what we’re arguing here is: If the Constitution there is what was being used to deprive African American farmers from a congressional mandate for receiving money that they were to receive as a victim for racial discrimination by the USDA. How can this same agency now — USDA vis-à-vis the president — use its discretion to give to this group of farmers currently,” he said, according to Fox13 Memphis.

Fox13 Memphis reported that the grievances addressed by the Black Farmers and Agriculturalists Association have escalated to a legal case that the association intends to file with the Supreme Court. Burrell says the issue is larger than a single payout and has broader implications for civil rights.