USDA reverses Biden-era farm policies after discrimination lawsuit wins
The US Department of Agriculture (USDA) announced in September 2025 that it would no longer defend certain Biden-era policies. Officials declared parts of these programmes unconstitutional due to race and sex-based preferences. The decision follows a long-running legal battle over claims of discrimination.
In 2021, Wisconsin farmer Adam Faust sued the Biden administration over the USDA’s Farmer Loan Forgiveness Plan. He argued that the programme unfairly excluded white male farmers from relief. The Wisconsin Institute for Law & Liberty (WILL) supported his case.
The lawsuit targeted three USDA initiatives: the Loan Guarantee Program, the Dairy Margin Coverage Fee, and the EQIP Grant Program. Faust’s legal team claimed these policies harmed around 2 million white male farmers—about 60% of the nation’s total. The case centred on whether race and sex could lawfully determine eligibility for agricultural aid. As part of a settlement, the USDA agreed to cover WILL’s attorney fees. The 2025 announcement confirmed the agency would no longer enforce the contested preferences, marking a shift in how such programmes operate.
The USDA’s decision removes race and sex as factors in these specific aid programmes. Farmers previously excluded due to their demographic background may now qualify for support. The settlement also resolves Faust’s lawsuit, closing a chapter in the debate over fairness in agricultural funding.
Read also:
- American teenagers taking up farming roles previously filled by immigrants, a concept revisited from 1965's labor market shift.
- Weekly affairs in the German Federal Parliament (Bundestag)
- Landslide claims seven lives, injures six individuals while they work to restore a water channel in the northern region of Pakistan
- Escalating conflict in Sudan has prompted the United Nations to announce a critical gender crisis, highlighting the disproportionate impact of the ongoing violence on women and girls.
