Vilsack visits SCSU: U.S. ag secretary announces $208M loan help for farmers

U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack visited South Carolina State University on Friday to discuss efforts to help farmers stay on family farms.

Fewer farms means less resources for rural communities, including small businesses, schools and hospitals, he said. Young people leaving rural communities for better opportunities has a detrimental effect on military recruitment, which mostly comes from rural areas, he said.

“It has an impact on the spirit of the community and on the economic opportunities created in the community,” he said.

Vilsack was joined in the discussion by S.C. Agriculture Commissioner Hugh Weathers, White House Public Engagement Director and former Columbia mayor Stephen Benjamin, S.C. State faculty and farmers from across the state.

The secretary touted the Biden administration’s efforts to provide new revenue sources and ways to cut costs for farmers, ranchers and foresters.

During Vilsack’s visit, the USDA announced $208 million in automatic financial assistance for farmers with loans through the department or bank loans that are guaranteed by the department.

The assistance is funded by the Inflation Reduction Act, according to a release from the department.

The money will help cover outstanding debts owed by farmers to the USDA, according to the statement. USDA loans often have high interest rates, Vilsack said.

Vilsack said he was instructed by President Joe Biden to promote equity in USDA programs and operations, including by building back trust with farmers who the USDA discriminated against in the past. He’s also tasked with helping alleviate the financial burdens of farmers doing business with the USDA and growing economic opportunities for the middle and lower class in rural America.

Vilsack spoke about how large farms have been pushing medium and small farms out of the industry since the 1970s due to USDA policy rewarding larger amounts of productive farmland. Since 1981, one in every six farms has ceased operation, he said.

While farming income has been high the past three years, almost 80% of that income has been taken in by larger operations accounting for roughly 8% of all farms in the country, he said.

“Are we OK with that? Do we think that’s a good direction for the country?” Vilsack asked. Some of the audience responded “No.”

“If we’re not, the question is: What do we do about it?” he said.

The USDA is promoting programs that set up local farm-to-table supply chains that keep products local and generate higher profits for farmers by cutting out middle men, he said.

The department is also incentivizing renewable energy and carbon capture practices on farms, which can provide additional revenue by connecting farms with industries that need green energy or carbon capture capacity to offset their emissions, he said.

The department is also looking into ways to lower operating costs, such as by researching more effective fertilizers. The department has directed $5 million in funding to state agriculture departments for local efforts, he said.

Weathers said the state has instituted programs to create local farm-to-table supply chains and to support Black and socially disadvantaged farmers. He said some federal programs need to be expanded to meet demand from South Carolina farmers.

“South Carolina has one of the most aggressive approaches to building our industry,” Weathers said.

During the roundtable, farmers said many of the USDA’s programs helped them start, expand, maintain or regain their farms, ranches and forestry operations.

Jody Glass, a livestock farmer in Laurens, said a USDA loan had allowed her to buy her grandmother’s farm and keep it in the family. USDA assistance has also helped support the farm since her husband was diagnosed with Stage 4 cancer earlier this year.

“It was really uncertain at the beginning of this year how it was going to go,” Glass said. “So to be able to have half a year of ‘at least we have that covered’ is really beneficial to my family.”

Farmers also were invited to share ways the department could better support them.

While USDA education programs allowed Yvonne Knight-Carter and her sister to build a forestry operation in Moncks Corner, with supplements from climate-smart incentives, mill closures have made it harder for them to sell their product.

“Bottom line is: The mills aren’t here anymore, so we have to find other ways to move our product,” Knight-Carter said.

Vilsack said the USDA will soon roll out funding to help mills stay open and is researching new ways to use lumber to create new markets.

Vilsack encouraged farmers to log onto the USDA’s website to apply for the department’s programs.

After the roundtable event, Vilsack said he was glad to hear the feedback from the farmers, was encouraged by the success stories and heartbroken for the Glass family’s situation.

This was the secretary’s first visit to S.C. State, university spokesperson Sam Watson said.

“This is an amazing HBCU that’s doing remarkable work and I’ve been so impressed with the level of partnerships that the university has been able to establish, not just with USDA, but with a number of other entities to expand opportunity,” Vilsack said.

While several universities are involved in USDA programs, S.C. State is the only one with two, Vilsack said. The university has received $75 million in funding for programs targeting climate smart practices and increasing productivity, he said.

The secretary said the remarks by the farmers at the roundtable highlighted the importance of institutions like S.C. State in providing for small and mid-sized farming operations.

Earlier this fall, Vilsack joined Education Secretary Miguel Cardona in penning an open letter to S.C. Gov. Henry McMaster asking the state to address the funding disparity between S.C. State and Clemson.

Vilsack said the department will be watching to see if the disparity will be addressed in state budgets this coming year, and is prepared to give “a bit of a nudge” if not enough is done.

“It’s a serious issue,” he said. “You come onto these campuses, you’re going to see a bunch of kids who really, really want to be educated. They want to be able to have the best opportunities.

“Best opportunities meaning facilities, meaning equipment, meaning staff, meaning professional faculty, all of that has a cost associated with it. And it’s important and necessary to keep the education here affordable as well. So it’s a tough issue for the president here, and so he needs a little help.”

S.C. State President Alexander Conyers said the university will continue to provide resources for farmers in the community and state and help connect them with federal resources.

“We certainly appreciate the secretary being here, but we know he can’t be here every day,” Conyers said. “But we are here every single day for our farmers and our ranchers.”