The Economic Determinants of the Number of Minority Farmers in the Southeast Region of the United States, 1969–1997

Abstract

The primary purpose of this research was to identify and quantify the determinants of the number of minority farmers in the Southeast region of the United States during the time period, 1969 to 1997. A second objective was to determine the potential impacts of globalization and international trade agreements on the number of minority farmers in the Southeast region of the United States. Regression results indicated that the number of minority farm owners was responsive to the returns to agricultural labor relative to nonfarm labor returns, as well as to cotton and rice prices. An increase in the cotton price was associated with a smaller rate of minority migration out of agriculture in the Southeast region of the United States. To the extent that globalization is likely to result in higher cotton export prices, international agricultural trade agreements are likely to result in decreased movement of minority farmers out of agriculture in the Southeast region of the United States. A third objective was to compare occupational migration rates out of agriculture of minorities with farmers of all races in the Southeast region. The data demonstrate that minority farm owners exhibited distinctly different migration patterns relative to all farm owners during 1969-1997.

"Not a new pattern": Black farmers' perspectives on barriers to participating in federal farm programs

“…USDA refers to these producers-Black farmers-as socially disadvantaged farmers and ranchers. 1 In studying Black farmers and ranchers, 2 scholars have focused on the skewed demographics in agriculture (Horst & Marion, 2019;Luster & Barkley, 2011;Molnar et al, 1988), the relationship between heir property and race (Balvanz et al, 2016;Dyer & Bailey, 2009;Gilbert et al, 2002), Black farmers' relationship with USDA (Cowan & Feder, 2013;Dishongh & Worthen, 1991;Tyler & Moore, 2013;Tyler et al, 2014) and the need for structural and practical changes in agriculture and federal farm programs (Brown et al, 1994;Grant et al, 2012). There is also an existing and growing body of research highlighting the works of resistance, activism, and pursuits of justice through agriculture and food systems by farmers of color (Alkon & Agyeman, 2011;Thompson, 2011;White, 2018).…”

Utilization of Property Among African American Heir and Titled Landowners in Alabama’s Black Belt

“…Several economists and social scientists have identified heir property as a leading cause of land loss among African American landowners (Baab, 2011; M. Brown & Larson, 1977; Craig-Taylor, 2000; Dyer & Bailey, 2008; Dyer et al, 2009; Gilbert et al, 2002; Graber, 1978; Luster & Barkley, 2011; Pearce, 1973; Reid, 2003; Zabawa, 1991; Zabawa et al, 1990). These authors contend that land loss frequently occurs through tax and partitioned sales.…”

“…For example, Pearce’s (1973) “problems,” “pitfalls,” and “possible solutions”; Chandler’s (2005) “loss in my bones”; and Deaton’s (2007) “dead capital.” According to Chandler (2005), these terms reference cultural and/or familial dissolution. Majority of the writers in this tradition tend to be legal scholars or social scientists interested in historical marginalization of rural farmers, landowners, and African Americans in particular (Chandler, 2005; Deaton, 2012; Dyer & Bailey, 2008; Gilbert, Sharp, & Felin, 2002; Luster & Barkley, 2011; Meyer, 2008; Pearce, 1973).…”

Doctoral degrees awarded to Blacks in agricultural economics: 1999–2019

“…This is surprising given the role of institutional racism in the loss of land and farm policy affecting Black farmers (Gilbert et al, 2002) and the transformative impact of the great migration out of the rural South. Peer‐reviewed publications in economics (for example, Craemer et al, 2020; Hornbeck & Naidu, 2014; Jones, 1994; Luster & Barkley, 2011; Wood & Gilbert, 2000) and in rural sociology and policy (see Gilbert et al, 2002 for a review) have studied these issues. While the association between research topics and the lack of diversity in the profession does not necessarily mean that greater diversity will alter what is researched and published, it is suggestive of a blind spot in the field.…”