Farmers meet with USDA officials

March 31, 2005

Daniel Perry
The Monitor

http://www.themonitor.com

EDINBURG - South Texas growers had an opportunity Wednesday to tell state and federal agriculture officials what their work was like keeping farms in operation.

But not all the discussion was cordial as farmers grapple with problems securing loans and feeling like, at times, that agriculture officials in county and state offices are not listening to their needs.

The daylong gathering at the University of Texas’ Pan American Annex on South Closner Boulevard featured morning workshops on topics like crop risk insurance and conservation assistance. The afternoon had a two-hour listening session led by officials from the Texas Farm Service Agency in College Station and the United States Department of Agriculture in Washington, D.C.

The department has had similar meetings in Las Lunes, N.M., Yakima, Wash., and Salinas, Calif. in the last year. A meeting is planned for late next month with Native American growers in Arizona. The trips’ purposes are to gather input from minority and small farm owners on what agricultural programs are working or failing them, said Paul Gutierrez, the USDA’s deputy assistant secretary for civil rights. The input is used in policy discussions to find ways of increasing accessibility for farmers in getting information and services for their work.

Some of the grower-driven improvements include 10-day notice letters given to growers so loan officers have more time to study money-seeking applications and customer service comment cards sent to USDA’s federal offices for staff to monitor grower and staff interaction.

"We don’t want people afraid to go into a county (agriculture) office and complain and be afraid of retaliation," said Vernon B. Parker, the USDA’s assistant secretary for civil rights.

Parker also touted the Minority Farm Register, a way for growers to be notified of federally backed farming and ranching services and programs.

"The only way we can survive is to have a partnership with you," he said.

But the agriculture-based strides were not enough for some attendees.

Arnoldo Cantu, a San Juan farmer owning 1,500 acres in Hidalgo, Jim Wells and Willacy counties, asked the panelists where they were five years ago when drought and water access were much more dire concerns. He said money is needed to farm but few Rio Grande Valley banks were willing to take chances on growers.

"The whole area needs help," Cantu said. "We suffer and there’s no other way to tell you we have obligations."

Roman Lopez Jr., an Edcouch farmer with 30 acres used for bailing and grazing, applied for a Farm Service Agency loan two years ago but was rejected. He is afraid he will lose his tractor in three months unless he gets federal help. Meanwhile, he still dreams of expanding his farm.

"I’m barely making it," Lopez said.

Gutierrez said, "loans are very complicated," which is why growers should be better at record keeping in tackling the application process.

John T. Fuston, the Texas Farm Service Agency’s executive director, said the amount of money farmers can receive depends on what the U.S. Congress allocates.

"It is embarrassing to see we have more applications than funds available," he said.

Attendees chastised the panelists for not having enough minority faces in county and state agricultural offices giving them assistance.

One of the attendees, Modesta Salazar of Pearsall in Frio County, owns 523 acres with her family used for timber and cattle. She said being looked down upon because of her skin color began in the 1950s when her family was given loan money after planting season was completed.

"I just want to tell them (the panelists) every time discrimination is found in an agent, they don’t discipline him," Salazar, a Cameron County native, said. "They praise him and move him to a higher office."

Parker said the USDA needed to improve its diversity hiring efforts and continue to boost its student internship opportunities.

"We want you to know about the programs, but most of all we want to know what barriers you have," he said.

Daniel Perry covers Edinburg and general assignments for The Monitor. You can reach him at (956) 683-4454.