Above photo: Dr. Reginald Smith, Alabama Cattle Farmer; Ben Burkett, Mississippi Vegetable Farmer, Dr. Basil Gooden, USDA Rural Development Under Secretary; Dr. Calvin R. King Sr.; President and CEO of Arkansas Land and Farm Development Corp. (ALCDC), Cornelius Blanding, Executive Director, Federation of Southern Cooperatives/LAF; Andrew Jacob, Chief Operating Officer, CoBank; Shirley Sherrod, Executive Director for the Southwest Georgia Project; Willis Nelson, Louisiana Cotton Farmer; Dewayne Goldmon, Senior Advisor for Racial Equity USDA Office of the Secretary; Cornelius Key, Georgia Peanut Farmer; Zach Ducheneaux, Administrator, Farm Service Agency.
East Point, Georgia – This past October, the Federation of Southern Cooperatives/Land Assistance Fund (“the Federation”) joined the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) and other partners for the announcement of the historic launch of the Southern Farmers Financial Association (SFFA). This new cooperatively-owned institution was created to increase access to capital for its member-owners to begin farming or strengthen existing small farming operations and agriculture-based businesses in high-poverty areas across the Southeast.
SFFA is supported with $20 million in initial funding from the Inflation Reduction Act, which will be used to:
- leverage private sector capital
- recruit full-time staff
- and begin outreach and lending efforts
Why SFFA Matters
Due to high start-up and ongoing operations costs, farming is a capital-intensive business. Access to credit provides farmers with essential operating funds to plant crops before any profits are realized. The longstanding lack of credit access for underserved farmers has been a major barrier, making it difficult to sustain farms.
Without the means to access needed capital to create financial stability, the data shows that starting or continuing to farm becomes too challenging for too many farmers in underserved communities.
The Federation’s Role
The Federation is one of many community-based organizations that support SFFA, an initiative to expand credit access for underserved farmers. The Federation plans to partner with SFFA to provide outreach, education, and technical assistance to SFFA member-borrowers to help them succeed.
SFFA is being led initially by the Federation’s Executive Director, Cornelius Blanding, who will serve as acting CEO alongside Shirley Sherrod as acting Secretary and Calvin King as acting Treasurer until a board is formed and initial hires are made.
The Federation celebrates this progress and praises the Biden-Harris Administration for its commitment to equity and efforts to change the narrative on the historic access to credit issues faced by the Black farmers, landowners, and cooperatives we represent.
In addition to agricultural loans, SFFA will provide financial, technical assistance to underserved farmers, ranchers, and forest owners in high-poverty areas across the Southeast. The Federation has offices and boots-on-the-ground in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, South Carolina, and Texas to help support SFFA and its efforts.
USDA defines a small farm as an operation with gross cash farm income under $250,000. Small family farms are particularly vulnerable to the financial impacts of the increasing number of natural disasters brought about by climate change, higher-priced inputs, heirs’ property (claim to land) issues, etc. Through a cooperative agreement with USDA, SFFA aims to expand access to capital and technical assistance to farmers and producers who have historically struggled to secure essential financing for growth and sustainability.
Last October in Atlanta, SFFA interim leadership, USDA Rural Development, bankers, and potential SFFA farmer-borrowers met at the National Center for Civil and Human Rights to celebrate the launch of this new financial institution.