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Black family farms rare as hens teeth { November 11 2006 } Original Source Link: (May no longer be active)
http://www.thetandd.com/articles/2006/11/11/news/doc455680355db34789317215.txthttp://www.thetandd.com/articles/2006/11/11/news/doc455680355db34789317215.txt
'Rare as hen's teeth'
Factors combine to make black farmers hard to find
By GENE ZALESKI, T&D Staff Writer
Saturday, November 11, 2006
Rowesville farmer Antron Williams comes from a long line of farmers stretching back six generations.
"My uncles were farmers and my cousins," Williams said "It (farming) is all I have ever wanted to do. I only have one life to live and might as well live it now."
A 23-year-old first-year farmer, Williams is bucking the trend of what many experts see as a dying breed of small farmers and, in particular, the minority farmer.
Williams operates a 250-acre farm outside Rowesville, where he grows corn, cotton, soybeans and wheat.
"There is something about it that I can't explain," Williams said of his desire to be a farmer while so many are getting out. "I like seeing things grow and knowing that I had a part in it."
Williams says the satisfaction of working the land compensates for the specific hurdles and challenges facing the minority farmer -- hurdles that have kept many minorities at bay and hesitant about entering the business.
According to the 2002 U.S. Department of Agriculture census, Orangeburg County has 160 black farmers and 1,115 white farmers.
The numbers of black or minority farmers, according to the 1992 census, show there were 146 black and other minority farmers. There were 819 white farmers.
According to the 2002 U.S. Department of Agriculture census, Calhoun County has 21 black or African American farmers compared to 344 white farmers.
In 1997, the county had 20 black farmers and 273 white farmers.
In Bamberg County, the 2002 census reveals 371 white farmers with about 44 black farmers.
In 1997, there were 20 black or minority farmers.
Nationally, since 1900 the number of black farmers has plunged from 746,717 to 18,451 in 1997.
Local agriculture officials, however, question the census numbers, noting the numbers include any individual that may farm without reflecting the region's full-time, minority farmer.
A dying breed
Calhoun County Clemson Extension agent Charles Davis described the minority or black farmer population in the county as ''rare as hen's teeth.''
"There may be an older fellow with a tractor or two, but they are hard to find," Davis said.
Davis said the movement of agriculture to large corporate farming operations is reality for the small farmer, whether black or white. Davis said the 20- to 30-acre farm operation cannot compete unless speciality crops are grown.
"It is a difficult ride for the small guy," Davis said. "Black or white does not make a difference. The economy of scale comes into play. It is ag economics 101."
Davis said the integration of the livestock and poultry industry has also driven many farmers out of the business.
"The attraction of a weekly paycheck and hoping you make something on the farm is too much," he said. "You can't make a living on a small operation."
Veteran Four Holes poultry farmer George Ulmer has been farming ''pretty much all is life,'' from picking cotton for his father in the 1950s to starting on his own farm in the late 1970s.
Today, Ulmer is under contract with Goldkist in the care of about 72,000 birds.
The 61-year old Ulmer, who is part of the Orangeburg County Young Farmers Association, echoed Davis' observation that growing competition in the broiler industry has made it difficult to make a profit but has limited risk for the small farmer.
But Ulmer says specific challenges for minority farmers remain.
"There is still a little problem in getting a loan and getting money," Ulmer said. "You have to know your lender or somebody who knows your lender who will speak up for you."
Ulmer explained that he tried to get a government loan for six months with little success.
"I knew somebody in the bank and got the money in less than a week," Ulmer said. "That does not make sense, does it? If you know the banker, things work better. If you don't know them, then as a minority you are in trouble."
Finding land can also prove difficult for the minority farmer, Ulmer said.
"If you don't have family land, you are out of luck," he said, explaining that finding land at a reasonable price is difficult. "The equipment and land are just too high."
The South Carolina State University's 1890 Research and Extension director for the small farm and outreach program, Edoe Agbodjan, says a number of issues face farmers but, because of their small numbers, minority farmers are more affected.
The issues include:
* Age -- "We have a growing number of farmers with an average age of 55 and above," Agbodjan said. "We don't have many young farmers coming into the system. We are losing farmers to aging."
In Orangeburg County, the average age of the 35-member Young Farmers Association is estimated at 50. About 75 percent of the association is minority.
* Distrust of governmental agencies -- "Many are so private about their enterprise," Agbodjan said. "There are a lot of issues in the minority area because of the past experiences they have had with government agencies."
Difficulties include fears of discrimination following the suit filed by the National Black Farmers Association against the U.S. Department of Agriculture in 1999.
The NBFA accused the department of discrimination between 1981 and 1996.
The Black Farmers and Agriculturist Association and 11 other plaintiffs filed a new suit against the USDA in September 2004. The organization is seeking $20.5 billion and class-action status for up to 25,000 black farmers the organization claims were denied fair loans and farm programs between 1997 and 2004.
"Due to these practices, they (minority farmers) lost lands and began the downfall," Agbodjan said.
On top of this, Agbodjan said many of the small minority farmers' educational levels are not the highest.
"The illiteracy issue becomes a real problem," he said, explaining that many minority farmers would not read through documentation. "They would take somebody else's word."
* A competitive market that stretches the minority farmer.
Grocery chains and larger corporate farming operations have almost wiped the minority and limited-resource farmer out.
"It does not give them much leeway with local producers," Agbodjan said, noting that many of the farmers utilizing the Orangeburg County Farmers' Market are older and have grown accustomed to eating locally grown food. High grocery store liability costs approaching $1 million have also made it difficult for the little guy.
Retired Calhoun County Clemson Extension agent Roger Chastain, who served from 1958-1990, said it is not lack of desire on the part of the minority farmer to succeed that has hindered the group.
Chastain said the minority farmer of his day was ''hard working, honest" and shunned ''handouts.'' He said despite being in the midst of the civil rights era, the relationship between the agency and farmer was generally positive.
"Back in the civil rights era, we were audited (by the government) to be sure we were servicing these small producers," Chastain said, noting his own personal relationships with minority farmers. "I had a lot of friends call me about their hogs being sick or having an insect problem. I worked with minorities and helped them because I came up the hard way."
Available help
Along with assistance from the Clemson Extension, Chastain said minority farmers could receive financial support and loans from the federal Farmers Home Administration as well as emotional support from the various 4-H groups.
"Our main goal is to make sure they work hard so we don't lose that population," Agbodjan said. "We understand the problem of and issue of replacement."
In addressing the issues facing limited-resource and minority farmers, Agbodjan said it is important for the farmer of today to try to get beyond past experiences and take advantage of the assistance provided by governmental agencies such as the USDA, Natural Resources Conservation Service and the USDA Rural Community Development program.
"If you don't register for these agencies, you will not have any help," Agbodjan said. "There are a lot of programs for limited-resource farmers."
Wilfred Pace, South Carolina's NRCS small farmer liaison, says the Small Farmer Initiative is a program specifically geared to small farmers.
"We work with farmers to look at technology and bring in resources and resource contacts ... to help grow small farm operations into viable and sustainable businesses."
The program is designed to increase participation by small-scale and limited-resource farmers in USDA programs. The program aims to reach out to small farmers through meetings such as in churches, community centers, on weekends or during evening hours.
Pace says as part of the NRCS Environmental Quality Incentives Program, farmers can receive cost-share assistance not exceeding $25,000. The funds are aimed to help farmers with an operation under 197 acres.
Cost-share rates are up to 75 percent of all conservation practices related to pest management, improved micro-irrigation systems and the installation of systems to improve water capacity.
Ulmer is one farmer who has benefited from the NRSC program, which helped him purchase a $25,000 shed for his operation. He paid about $13,000 with the organization matching the funds.
In addition to NRCS, Ulmer said 1890 does provide assistance, but he says he does not see any organization that provides immediate assistance.
"There is not a quick fix," Ulmer said. "It helps over several years ... but I don't know anything that helps in one year or next month."
One of the things the 1890 Extension program is seeking to do is to encourage farmers to form a cooperative through which the strength is in numbers. Co-op formation, however, has been slow in coming to Orangeburg.
"It has something to do with the trust issue and network issue," Agbodjan said. "Everybody is so independent, they think they can face problems and deal with them by themselves. In the past, farming was looked at as a way of life. It is no longer. You have to treat it as a business in order to survive."
And unless something is done and done soon, Agbodjan says the minority farmer may become history. He says better promotion of the importance of agriculture from a young age by providing ag education for middle-school-aged children through Ag in the Classroom efforts and instilling in youngsters where food comes from will be crucial.
"It looks very dim," Agbodjan said. "We are doing the best we can to make sure they survive, but we have to find a way to bring in new, viable young people."
Williams is one of this younger generation that remains optimistic about the future.
"I am hoping it will get a little brighter. Hopefully with biodiesel, it will be a big help as far as creating more markets and creating more demand for the products."
T&D Staff Writer Gene Zaleski can be reached by e-mail at gzaleski@timesanddemocrat.com or by phone at 803-533-5551. Discuss this and other stories at TheTandD.com.
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