An ad recently aired by the Senate Leadership Fund, a super PAC dedicated to electing Republicans to the Senate, attacks Jon Tester by accusing him of voting for a farm program that excluded white farmers. This is a blatantly misleading and downright cynical accusation. Tester voted for the Inflation Reduction Act which included a $2.2 billion payout by the US Department of Agriculture to Black farmers and other farmers of color who experienced years of discrimination when applying to the USDA’s farm loan programs.
The decades-long record of highly discriminatory practices and damages suffered by Black farmers was established in a landmark case, Pigford v. Glickman, filed against the USDA and settled in 1999. The payments were finally made available to Black farmers recently. Another $3.1 billion was included in the Act for “economically distressed farmers,” including white farmers.
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In short, Sen. Tester has always voted for farmers by supporting and voting to pass farm bills since he’s been in office.
