This story was originally published on February 16, 2024, and has been updated.
Land loss and discrimination haven’t stopped a new generation of young Black farmers from spearheading efforts to revitalize the industry while building a more equitable and sustainable future for their communities.
In the past five years, the U.S. lost 7% of all farms, while Black folks lost nearly 13%, the highest decline among all racial groups, according to data from the most recent Census of Agriculture. In contrast, some groups — individuals who are Asian, Hawaiian, or Pacific Islanders — are seeing gains.
Still, Ashley Webb, 41, remains determined to increase the number of Black farmers. Shaped by images she saw while growing up, she equated farming to a white-only industry.
But that changed when she was living in Los Angeles. She saw Black folks riding horses and people like Ron Finley growing food in the strips of land in between sidewalks. She and her husband immediately got inspired and did the same in their neighborhood. Years later, they moved to New Orleans and bought a piece of land to farm in 2017.
Ever since, they’ve been growing holiday staples that include kale, greens, herbs, peppers and hibiscus on two lots of their land. They host farmers markets in the rural village of Napoleon Hill and in the 9th Ward of New Orleans to bring fresh produce to areas described as food deserts. It all started with exposure to Finley’s work. Webb represents the small increase in new Black farmers with less than 10 years of experience — one of the bright spots that should be celebrated, she said. However, Black farmers saw the least growth in this category than all other groups, except Native Americans who didn’t grow at all, according to the Census of Agriculture.
Oftentimes, the small wins get overshadowed by the persistent challenges and hurdles in agriculture. The average age of farmers is 58, but for Black folks it is 61. And as older people, who represent the bulk of farmers, age out, more needs to be done to encourage younger folks to enter the profession and know it can be profitable.
“I feel like agriculture programs need to come into Black schools and in Black neighborhoods. They need to be able to see people who look like them growing and to see that it is a pathway of owning land, giving back to the soil, to the community, even to our roots,” Webb told Capital B. This work is happening by farmers, organizations, and colleges and universities. In Tennessee, universities have seen the enrollment of students studying agriculture double over the past decade. In Desert Hot Springs, California, Sam Cobb and his wife, Maxine — the only Black date farmers in the country — have hosted farm tours since 2002 to usher in new generations. The Black Farmers Collective in Seattle collaborates with food banks and markets, and provides resources to grow Black farms.
Read More: Mistrust of USDA Could Cause Black Farmers to Lose Out on Funding
Conducted every five years by the USDA’s National Agricultural Statistics Service, the agriculture census captures farmer and producer demographics, land ownership, income, and expenditures to create a complete count of all farms in the United States. The census showed that from 2017 to 2022, white farmers operated 95% of the nation’s 1.9 million farms, whereas Black farmers operated less than 2%. In spite of this, Black farmers acquired more acreage, with an increase to 5.3 million from 4.6 million in 2017.
Willis Nelson, a 36-year-old third-generation farmer in Sondheimer, Louisiana, and his three brothers wanted to continue the legacy of his family. They have roughly 3,500 acres and grow corn, cotton, soybeans, and wheat. He hopes to get at least 17,000 more acres.
Although he enjoys the art of farming, Nelson doesn’t shy away from the challenges of the business. There was a time when his family couldn’t get funding, land, or opportunities to grow, but they stayed persistent. He says the narrative has been that Black farmers aren’t good farmers, which isn’t true. They just aren’t “on the same playing field.”“We have the same challenges as every farmer; it’s hard to be a farmer, but for us, you also got to add another 10% or more to the existing challenges,” he said. “We know how to farm. When we came over, that’s what we did from way back to our ancestors. It is in our DNA.”
Willis Nelson (center) and his three brothers continue the legacy started by their father Willie Sr., far right. (Courtesy of BASF)
For so long, some Black farmers, including Nelson’s father, refused to ask for help, given their deep mistrust of the USDA and its agencies. In order to succeed in this industry, individuals must be OK with asking for help, whether it’s from neighbors or friends, Nelson added.
“It’s hard work, and you got to trust somebody at some point because you’re not going to be here forever,” he said.
This is why it’s even more important to bring the community together around farming or gardening. For Webb, it’s not just about farming, but improving the health and well-being of individuals and the environment. It’s also about exploring other careers in agriculture aside from working on the farm. She hosts free gardening, composting, and cooking classes for youth.
“I had an uncle who grew things, but they didn’t say, ‘Oh, let’s teach the kids how to do that.’ He was just the older uncle who grew watermelon and sold it on the side of the road. My family pushed school … to get a degree,” Webb said. “It’s like, no. You can make a profit from farming and your family can live and survive on it … because we have to have food grown in America to give to Americans.”
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