Lester Bonner purchased a tractor, hay baler, and two hay combines for his 113-acre wheat farm when he learned he’d have $50,000 of his loans wiped clean as a result of a debt relief program from the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
Many more farmers invested in their farms in anticipation of the forgiveness of loans administered by the USDA’s Farm Service Agency.
However, they never received it.
Bonner and three Virginia-based farmers of color are suing the U.S. government, which they say broke a contract in 2022 by repealing a $4 billion debt relief program, putting them at risk of losing their farms and livelihoods. The government is arguing that there was no contract.
In February, the U.S. Court of…
