From [HERE] Targeted programs for minorities, new farmers, and the environment have been removed from the U.S. Farm Bill as a consequence of significant, under-reported cuts in the deal to avert the so-called “fiscal cliff.” While the deal extended some key Farm Bill provisions, one of which will prevent milk prices from skyrocketing, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) (white man in photo) insisted on cutting these programs as part of the final deal.

Though targeted programs (described as such because they’re “targeted” at helping certain groups of farmers) would have made up only about one percent of the nine-month farm bill extension’s price tag, they make up its most comprehensive and effectual efforts at making American farming sustainable and open to all Americans. Below are three examples of important targeted programs cut at McConnell’s behest:

1. Outreach and Technical Assistance for Socially Disadvantaged Farmers and Ranchers. Because the historical legacy of slavery and discrimination in landowning left the vast majority of American farmland in white hands, African-Americans, Hispanics, and Native Americans are dramatically underrepresented in American farming. Moreover, continued discrimination and unequal education means that white farmers disproportionately benefit from USDA support programs. The Outreach and Technical Assistance program, also known as 2501, is the only federal program dedicated to rectifying this discriminatory legacy by funding grants, education initiatives, and outreach organizations designed specifically for minority farmers. Created in 1990, but more robustly funded in both 2002 and 2008, it has been “most effective in reversing the decline of socially disadvantaged farmers and ranchers across the United States,” according to Professor Robert Zabawa, an expert on race and farming at Tuskegee University. 2501 is strongly supported by a broad group of organizations around the country, including the AFL-CIO.