Another preliminary injunction has been issued on USDA's debt forgiveness effort for socially disadvantaged farmers, with the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas also granting a motion for class certification in the matter.
Judge Reed O'Connor rejected the government's arguments in the case and issued the second preliminary injunction on the matter with a judge in Wisconsin expected to issue a decision yet this month on a case filed there.
The Texas judge ruled that USDA has failed to provide evidence of how socially disadvantaged farmers have been discriminated against.
In a frequently asked question section, the Farm Service Agency said the payments are for "decades of well-documented discrimination against socially disadvantaged farmers and ranchers by USDA." USDA has acknowledged the court action in Florida on the debt relief effort but has continued efforts to get ready to make the payments.
"Borrowers should continue to submit paperwork (signed offer letters) and USDA will continue to accept these letters and process them," the agency noted. "USDA will be prepared to provide the debt relief authorized by Congress at the earliest opportunity, depending on the ongoing litigation." But USDA said the payment timeline would be updated once they have "received updates regarding this litigation."
USDA's initial expectation was that when a signed offer letter was received by the agency, it would take three weeks to pay off a loan and issue a payment to a borrower.
The Farm Service Agency (FSA) has also issued guidance to state and county offices for the debt forgiveness effort relative to Farm Storage Facility Loans (FSFLs) but said that guidelines for action relative to the Farm Loan Program (FLP) would be provided at a later date.