A Wisconsin dairy farmer alleged in a federal lawsuit filed Monday that the Trump administration is illegally denying financial assistance to white farmers by continuing programs that favor minorities. The conservative Wisconsin Institute for Law and Liberty filed the lawsuit against the US Department of Agriculture in federal court in Wisconsin on behalf of a white dairy farmer, Adam Faust. Faust was among several farmers who successfully sued the Biden administration in 2021 for race discrimination in the USDA's Farmer Loan Forgiveness Plan, reports the AP.
The new lawsuit alleges the government has continued to implement DEI programs that were instituted under former President Biden. The Wisconsin Institute wrote to the USDA in April warning of legal action, and six Republican Wisconsin congressmen called on the USDA to investigate and end the programs. "The USDA should honor the President's promise to the American people to end racial discrimination in the federal government," Faust said in a written statement. "After being ignored by a federal agency that's meant to support agriculture, I hope my lawsuit brings answers, accountability, and results from USDA."
The lawsuit contends that Faust is one of 2 million white male farmers who are subject to discriminatory race-based policies at the USDA. The lawsuit names three USDA programs and policies it says put white men at a disadvantage. Faust participates in one in which he alleges he is charged a $100 administrative fee that minority and female farmers do not have to pay. Faust also participates in a USDA program that guarantees 90% of the value of loans to white farmers, but 95% to women and racial minorities.
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Faust has also begun work on a new manure storage system that could qualify for reimbursement under a USDA environmental conservation program, but 75% of his costs are eligible while 90% of the costs of minority farmers qualify. The Wisconsin Institute has filed dozens of such lawsuits in 25 states attacking DEI programs in government. In its April letter to the USDA, the law firm that has a long history of representing Republicans said it didn't want to sue, "but there is no excuse for this continued discrimination." (The Supreme Court just cleared the way for such cases.)
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