Fact Check: White farmers face discrimination in USDA programs, lawsuit claims.

Fact Check: White farmers face discrimination in USDA programs, lawsuit claims.

Published June 17, 2025
±
VERDICT
Partially True

# Fact Check: "White farmers face discrimination in USDA programs, lawsuit claims" ## What We Know Recent claims have emerged regarding discriminatio...

Fact Check: "White farmers face discrimination in USDA programs, lawsuit claims"

What We Know

Recent claims have emerged regarding discrimination against white farmers in U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) programs. A notable lawsuit was filed by a Wisconsin dairy farmer, Adam Faust, who alleges that the USDA's policies favor racial minorities and women over white farmers in loan programs. According to the lawsuit, Faust argues that these policies create a disadvantage for white farmers, as they receive less favorable loan guarantees compared to their minority counterparts (AP News, PBS).

The USDA has acknowledged historical discrimination against farmers of color and has initiated programs to address these issues, such as the Discrimination Financial Assistance Program (DFAP), which provides financial assistance to farmers who experienced discrimination in USDA programs prior to January 2021. This program is funded by the Inflation Reduction Act, which allocated $2.2 billion for this purpose (USDA, USDA).

The DFAP is designed to assist those who can demonstrate they faced discrimination based on race, national origin, or other factors. However, the program has also been criticized for potentially overlooking the needs of white farmers who claim they are facing discrimination as a result of these equity-focused initiatives (NPR).

Analysis

The lawsuit filed by Faust and others reflects a growing concern among some white farmers regarding perceived discrimination in favor of minority farmers. The claim that white farmers are disadvantaged due to USDA policies is supported by Faust's assertion that he, along with millions of other white farmers, is subjected to race-based policies that favor minorities (ABC News).

However, it is essential to consider the context of these claims. The USDA has a long history of discrimination against farmers of color, which has led to significant legislative efforts to rectify these injustices. The DFAP is a direct response to this historical discrimination, aiming to provide reparative measures for those affected (USDA). Critics argue that while these measures are necessary, they may inadvertently create new forms of discrimination against white farmers, as highlighted by Faust's lawsuit.

The sources of information regarding this issue vary in reliability. The USDA's official communications are credible as they represent the government's stance and efforts to address discrimination. In contrast, the lawsuit and claims from individual farmers may reflect personal grievances and could be influenced by broader political narratives surrounding race and equity in agriculture.

Conclusion

The claim that "white farmers face discrimination in USDA programs" is Partially True. While there is evidence of ongoing discrimination against white farmers, particularly through lawsuits like Faust's, it is also crucial to recognize the historical context of racial discrimination that has prompted the USDA to implement programs aimed at supporting farmers of color. Thus, while the concerns of white farmers are valid within the current discourse on equity, they exist alongside a necessary acknowledgment of past injustices faced by minority farmers.

Sources

  1. USDA Reminds Producers of Upcoming Discrimination Financial Assistance Program Deadline
  2. USDA Extends Application Deadline for Discrimination Financial Assistance Program to January 13
  3. Wisconsin dairy farmer sues Trump administration claiming discrimination against white farmers
  4. Black farmers worry new approach on 'race neutral' lending leaves them in the shadows
  5. Wisconsin dairy farmer sues Trump administration alleging racial discrimination against white farmers
  6. Wisconsin farmer sues Trump admin. claiming discrimination against white farmers

Have a claim you want to verify? It's 100% Free!

Our AI-powered fact-checker analyzes claims against thousands of reliable sources and provides evidence-based verdicts in seconds. Completely free with no registration required.

💡 Try:
"Coffee helps you live longer"
100% Free
No Registration
Instant Results

Comments

Leave a comment

Loading comments...

More Fact Checks to Explore

Discover similar claims and stay informed with these related fact-checks

🔍
Partially True
🎯 Similar

Fact Check: Paul Krugman Paul Krugman We’re All Rats Now Time to take a stand, again, against racism Paul Krugman Jun 30, 2025 Zohran Mamdani’s upset victory in New York’s Democratic primary has created panic in MAGAland. Stephen Miller, the architect of Donald Trump’s deportation policies, waxed apocalyptic: Scott Bessent, the Treasury secretary, declared that New York is about to turn into “Caracas on the Hudson.” And Sen. Tommy Tuberville of Alabama basically declared New York’s voters subhuman, saying: These inner-city rats, they live off the federal government. And that’s one reason we’re $37 trillion in debt. And it’s time we find these rats and we send them back home, that are living off the American taxpayers that are working very hard every week to pay taxes. These reactions are vile, and they’re also dishonest. Whatever these men may claim, it’s all about bigotry. Miller isn’t concerned about the state of New York “society.” What bothers him is the idea of nonwhite people having political power. Bessent isn’t really deeply worried about Zamdani’s economic ideas. But he feels free, maybe even obliged, to slander a foreign-born Muslim with language he would never use about a white Christian politician, even if that politician were (like some of his colleagues in the Trump administration) a total crackpot. And while Tuberville stands out even within his caucus as an ignorant fool, his willingness to use dehumanizing language about millions of people shows that raw racism is rapidly becoming mainstream in American politics. Remember, during the campaign both Trump and JD Vance amplified the slanders about Haitians eating pets. And now that they’re in office, you can see the resurgence of raw racism all across Trump administration policies, large and small. You can see it, for example, in the cuts at the National Institutes of Health, which are so tilted against racial minorities that a federal judge — one appointed by Ronald Reagan! — declared I’ve never seen a record where racial discrimination was so palpable. I’ve sat on this bench now for 40 years. I’ve never seen government racial discrimination like this. You can see it in the renaming of military bases after Confederate generals — that is, traitors who fought for slavery. You can even see it in a change in the military’s shaving policy that is clearly custom-designed to drive Black men — who account for around a quarter of the Army’s new recruits — out of the service. So racism and bigotry are back, big time. Who’s safe? Nobody. Are you a legal immigrant? Well, the Supreme Court just allowed Trump to summarily strip half a million U.S. residents of that status, and only a fool would imagine that this is the end of the story. Anyway, when masked men who claim to be ICE agents but refuse to show identification are grabbing people off the streets because they think those people look illegal, does legal status even matter? Does it even matter if you’re a U.S. citizen? And the One Big Beautiful Bill Act is set to massively increase ICE’s funding — basically setting up a huge national secret police force. Now, maybe you imagine that you yourself won’t suffer from this new reign of bigotry and imagine that everyone you care about is similarly safe. But if that’s what you think, you’re likely to face a rude awakening. I personally don’t have any illusions of safety. Yes, I’m a native-born white citizen. But my wife and her family are Black, and some of my friends and relatives are foreign-born U.S. citizens. Furthermore, I’m Jewish, and anyone who knows their history realizes that whenever right-wing bigotry is on the ascendant, we’re always next in line. Are there really people out there naïve enough to believe MAGA’s claims to be against antisemitism, who can’t see the transparent cynicism and dishonesty? The fact is that the Trump administration already contains a number of figures with strong ties to antisemitic extremists. The Great Replacement Theory, which has de facto become part of MAGA’s ideology, doesn’t just say that there’s a conspiracy to replace whites with people of color; it says that it’s a Jewish conspiracy. So I’m definitely scared of what the many antisemites inside or with close ties to the Trump administration may eventually do. And no, I’m not frightened at all by the prospect that New York may soon have a somewhat leftist Muslim mayor. Anyway, my personal fears are beside the point. Everyone who cares about keeping America America needs to take a stand against the resurgence of bigotry. Because the truth is that we’re all rats now. MUSICAL CODA Discussion about this post Michael Roseman Jun 30 Edited For a while, American bigotry was ashamed of itself. Or pretended to be. Now it runs the government. Reply Share 106 replies Megan Rothery Jun 30 Edited Take a stand - Call. Write. Email. Protest. Unrelentingly. Use/share this spreadsheet as a resource to call/email/write members of Congress, the Cabinet and news organizations. Reach out to those in your own state, as well as those in others. Use your voice and make some “good trouble” ❤️‍🩹🤍💙 https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/13lYafj0P-6owAJcH-5_xcpcRvMUZI7rkBPW-Ma9e7hw/edit?usp=drivesdk Reply Share 31 replies 852 more comments... No posts Ready for more? © 2025 Paul Krugman Privacy ∙ Terms ∙ Collection notice Start writing Get the app Substack is the home for great culture

Detailed fact-check analysis of: Paul Krugman Paul Krugman We’re All Rats Now Time to take a stand, again, against racism Paul Krugman Jun 30, 2025 Zohran Mamdani’s upset victory in New York’s Democratic primary has created panic in MAGAland. Stephen Miller, the architect of Donald Trump’s deportation policies, waxed apocalyptic: Scott Bessent, the Treasury secretary, declared that New York is about to turn into “Caracas on the Hudson.” And Sen. Tommy Tuberville of Alabama basically declared New York’s voters subhuman, saying: These inner-city rats, they live off the federal government. And that’s one reason we’re $37 trillion in debt. And it’s time we find these rats and we send them back home, that are living off the American taxpayers that are working very hard every week to pay taxes. These reactions are vile, and they’re also dishonest. Whatever these men may claim, it’s all about bigotry. Miller isn’t concerned about the state of New York “society.” What bothers him is the idea of nonwhite people having political power. Bessent isn’t really deeply worried about Zamdani’s economic ideas. But he feels free, maybe even obliged, to slander a foreign-born Muslim with language he would never use about a white Christian politician, even if that politician were (like some of his colleagues in the Trump administration) a total crackpot. And while Tuberville stands out even within his caucus as an ignorant fool, his willingness to use dehumanizing language about millions of people shows that raw racism is rapidly becoming mainstream in American politics. Remember, during the campaign both Trump and JD Vance amplified the slanders about Haitians eating pets. And now that they’re in office, you can see the resurgence of raw racism all across Trump administration policies, large and small. You can see it, for example, in the cuts at the National Institutes of Health, which are so tilted against racial minorities that a federal judge — one appointed by Ronald Reagan! — declared I’ve never seen a record where racial discrimination was so palpable. I’ve sat on this bench now for 40 years. I’ve never seen government racial discrimination like this. You can see it in the renaming of military bases after Confederate generals — that is, traitors who fought for slavery. You can even see it in a change in the military’s shaving policy that is clearly custom-designed to drive Black men — who account for around a quarter of the Army’s new recruits — out of the service. So racism and bigotry are back, big time. Who’s safe? Nobody. Are you a legal immigrant? Well, the Supreme Court just allowed Trump to summarily strip half a million U.S. residents of that status, and only a fool would imagine that this is the end of the story. Anyway, when masked men who claim to be ICE agents but refuse to show identification are grabbing people off the streets because they think those people look illegal, does legal status even matter? Does it even matter if you’re a U.S. citizen? And the One Big Beautiful Bill Act is set to massively increase ICE’s funding — basically setting up a huge national secret police force. Now, maybe you imagine that you yourself won’t suffer from this new reign of bigotry and imagine that everyone you care about is similarly safe. But if that’s what you think, you’re likely to face a rude awakening. I personally don’t have any illusions of safety. Yes, I’m a native-born white citizen. But my wife and her family are Black, and some of my friends and relatives are foreign-born U.S. citizens. Furthermore, I’m Jewish, and anyone who knows their history realizes that whenever right-wing bigotry is on the ascendant, we’re always next in line. Are there really people out there naïve enough to believe MAGA’s claims to be against antisemitism, who can’t see the transparent cynicism and dishonesty? The fact is that the Trump administration already contains a number of figures with strong ties to antisemitic extremists. The Great Replacement Theory, which has de facto become part of MAGA’s ideology, doesn’t just say that there’s a conspiracy to replace whites with people of color; it says that it’s a Jewish conspiracy. So I’m definitely scared of what the many antisemites inside or with close ties to the Trump administration may eventually do. And no, I’m not frightened at all by the prospect that New York may soon have a somewhat leftist Muslim mayor. Anyway, my personal fears are beside the point. Everyone who cares about keeping America America needs to take a stand against the resurgence of bigotry. Because the truth is that we’re all rats now. MUSICAL CODA Discussion about this post Michael Roseman Jun 30 Edited For a while, American bigotry was ashamed of itself. Or pretended to be. Now it runs the government. Reply Share 106 replies Megan Rothery Jun 30 Edited Take a stand - Call. Write. Email. Protest. Unrelentingly. Use/share this spreadsheet as a resource to call/email/write members of Congress, the Cabinet and news organizations. Reach out to those in your own state, as well as those in others. Use your voice and make some “good trouble” ❤️‍🩹🤍💙 https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/13lYafj0P-6owAJcH-5_xcpcRvMUZI7rkBPW-Ma9e7hw/edit?usp=drivesdk Reply Share 31 replies 852 more comments... No posts Ready for more? © 2025 Paul Krugman Privacy ∙ Terms ∙ Collection notice Start writing Get the app Substack is the home for great culture

Jul 20, 2025
Read more →
Fact Check: "Project Esther" (from the Heritage Foundation, like Project 2025) aims to:

Eradicate all religions except one, force its practice, and imprison or execute those who defy it.

Implement body implants for constant government surveillance of all personal data.

Strip women of personhood, making them property of their husbands, unable to drive, vote, or have bank accounts, and force immediate sterilization of baby girls, with babies grown in labs and implanted.

Eradicate LGBTQI+ individuals, forcing gay men to become straight or face immediate death, and forcing lesbian women to marry men.

Replace the U.S. Constitution with biblical law.

Criminalize abortion nationally with the death penalty.

Eradicate all public and private schooling, replacing it with religious homeschooling.

Establish re-education camps for those who resist, to "repurpose their brain."

These plans are explicitly written, not implied, and are deeply rooted in white supremacy and Nazi rhetoric.
False
🎯 Similar

Fact Check: "Project Esther" (from the Heritage Foundation, like Project 2025) aims to: Eradicate all religions except one, force its practice, and imprison or execute those who defy it. Implement body implants for constant government surveillance of all personal data. Strip women of personhood, making them property of their husbands, unable to drive, vote, or have bank accounts, and force immediate sterilization of baby girls, with babies grown in labs and implanted. Eradicate LGBTQI+ individuals, forcing gay men to become straight or face immediate death, and forcing lesbian women to marry men. Replace the U.S. Constitution with biblical law. Criminalize abortion nationally with the death penalty. Eradicate all public and private schooling, replacing it with religious homeschooling. Establish re-education camps for those who resist, to "repurpose their brain." These plans are explicitly written, not implied, and are deeply rooted in white supremacy and Nazi rhetoric.

Detailed fact-check analysis of: "Project Esther" (from the Heritage Foundation, like Project 2025) aims to: Eradicate all religions except one, force its practice, and imprison or execute those who defy it. Implement body implants for constant government surveillance of all personal data. Strip women of personhood, making them property of their husbands, unable to drive, vote, or have bank accounts, and force immediate sterilization of baby girls, with babies grown in labs and implanted. Eradicate LGBTQI+ individuals, forcing gay men to become straight or face immediate death, and forcing lesbian women to marry men. Replace the U.S. Constitution with biblical law. Criminalize abortion nationally with the death penalty. Eradicate all public and private schooling, replacing it with religious homeschooling. Establish re-education camps for those who resist, to "repurpose their brain." These plans are explicitly written, not implied, and are deeply rooted in white supremacy and Nazi rhetoric.

Jul 31, 2025
Read more →
Fact Check: I can promise you that NWS was NOT eradicated in 1966.  I was a teen in the 1970s living/working on a ranch in far west Texas.  The ranch had 2000 sheep at one time.  We had many many cases of screw worm infestations.  I became an expert open pasture roper during the summers.  We roped the sheep and applied medicine (white king? then purple stuffin later years).  I carried 2 ropes on my saddle and they smelled like a corpse.  So much for facts.
Partially True
🎯 Similar

Fact Check: I can promise you that NWS was NOT eradicated in 1966. I was a teen in the 1970s living/working on a ranch in far west Texas. The ranch had 2000 sheep at one time. We had many many cases of screw worm infestations. I became an expert open pasture roper during the summers. We roped the sheep and applied medicine (white king? then purple stuffin later years). I carried 2 ropes on my saddle and they smelled like a corpse. So much for facts.

Detailed fact-check analysis of: I can promise you that NWS was NOT eradicated in 1966. I was a teen in the 1970s living/working on a ranch in far west Texas. The ranch had 2000 sheep at one time. We had many many cases of screw worm infestations. I became an expert open pasture roper during the summers. We roped the sheep and applied medicine (white king? then purple stuffin later years). I carried 2 ropes on my saddle and they smelled like a corpse. So much for facts.

Aug 15, 2025
Read more →
Fact Check: will TRUMP Will e Impeached and Escorted Out ofthe White House
Partially True

Fact Check: will TRUMP Will e Impeached and Escorted Out ofthe White House

Detailed fact-check analysis of: will TRUMP Will e Impeached and Escorted Out ofthe White House

Aug 12, 2025
Read more →
Fact Check: Maxwell imprisoned and Babbitt killed – exemplify how white supremacy harms white women, even when white men benefit and evade consequences.
Partially True

Fact Check: Maxwell imprisoned and Babbitt killed – exemplify how white supremacy harms white women, even when white men benefit and evade consequences.

Detailed fact-check analysis of: Maxwell imprisoned and Babbitt killed – exemplify how white supremacy harms white women, even when white men benefit and evade consequences.

Aug 3, 2025
Read more →
Fact Check: The White House was in chaos. Democrats were panicking. Biden admitted he couldn’t finish the race or the job.
One year ago today, Joe Biden stepped down.
Partially True

Fact Check: The White House was in chaos. Democrats were panicking. Biden admitted he couldn’t finish the race or the job. One year ago today, Joe Biden stepped down.

Detailed fact-check analysis of: The White House was in chaos. Democrats were panicking. Biden admitted he couldn’t finish the race or the job. One year ago today, Joe Biden stepped down.

Jul 30, 2025
Read more →
Fact Check: White farmers face discrimination in USDA programs, lawsuit claims. | TruthOrFake Blog