{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://www.jones.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases/senators-doug-jones-and-tim-scott-urge-usda-to-immediately-implement-heirs-property-provisions-secured-in-2018-farm-bill-", "Senators Doug Jones and Tim Scott Urge USDA to Immediately Implement Heirs\u2019 Property Provisions Secured in 2018 Farm Bill", "2019-07-18", "2019", "2019-07", "Democrat", "House", "AL", "Doug Jones", "J000300", "www.jones.senate.gov", null, null, "legacy", "WASHINGTON  In a letter to Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue, Senators Doug Jones (D-Ala.) and Tim Scott (R-S.C.) are urging the Department of Agriculture (USDA) to immediately implement provisions in the 2018 Farm Bill that would benefit owners of heirs' property. Heirs' property is land that has been informally passed down within families, often for several generations, and can often lead to legal complications and prevent landowners from qualifying for federal assistance.\r\nThe letter focuses on a provision that would allow heirs' property owners to obtain USDA farm numbers and gain fair access to the department's programs, removing a significant barrier to federal resources that African-American farmers and ranchers have long faced. Senators Jones and Scott introduced that legislation, the Fair Access for Farmers and Ranchers Act (S.3117), last year and were successful in their efforts to include it in the recent farm bill.\r\nHeirs' property overwhelmingly impacts African-American land ownership, of which 60 percent is projected to be heirs' property. Because a significant portion of U.S. minority-owned rural land was passed down through generations as heirs property, often without a legal title, these farmers and ranchers have been unable to obtain farm numbers and subsequent access to a multitude of USDA programs, the senators wrote.\r\nThe inability to participate in USDA programs has not only contributed to a startling negative trend in African-American land ownership but has also hindered African-American farmers and ranchers from experiencing economic equality, the letter continues. As representatives of states that are largely considered to be ground zero for this issue, timely and efficient implementation is paramount for heirs' property owners.\r\nThe letter also calls for USDA to follow through with a farm bill-mandated study about the impact of unresolved legal issues have on the ability of heirs' property owners to operate their farms and ranches.\r\n\r\nFull text of the letter can be found below and here.\r\n  July 18, 2019\r\nThe Honorable Sonny Perdue\r\nSecretary of Agriculture  U.S. Department of Agriculture  1400 Independence Avenue, SW  Washington, DC 20250\r\nDear Secretary Perdue:\r\nWe write to urge you to direct the Department of Agriculture (USDA) to expeditiously implement a key provision in the Agricultural Improvement Act of 2018 (PL 115-334): Sec. 12615 Eligibility for Operators on Heirs' Property Land to Obtain a Farm Number by Developing Official Directives to be Used by Field Offices. Specifically, this provision ensures fair access to USDA programs for farmers and ranchers operating on land with undivided interests, thereby bolstering rural land value and leveling the playing field for countless minority farmers and ranchers who have been locked out of our federal support programs for far too long.\r\nHeirs' property overwhelmingly impacts African-American land ownership, of which 60 percent is projected to be heirs' property. Because a significant portion of U.S. minority-owned rural land was passed down through generations as heirs property, often without a legal title, these farmers and ranchers have been unable to obtain farm numbers and subsequent access to a multitude of USDA programs. The inability to participate in USDA programs has not only contributed to a startling negative trend in African-American land ownership but has also hindered African-American farmers and ranchers from experiencing economic equality. As representatives of states that are largely considered to be ground zero for this issue, timely and efficient implementation is paramount for heirs' property owners.\r\nIn addition, Section 12607 of the Agricultural Improvement Act of 2018 authorized USDA's National Agriculture Statistics Service to study the various ways in which unresolved land tenure issues preclude heirs' property interest holders from successfully operating farms and ranches. Proper implementation of this provision will finally provide us with critical data deciphering the challenges still facing some of our nation's most vulnerable agricultural producers.\r\nThank you for your time and attention to this matter, we look forward to your response.\r\n\r\nSincerely,\r\n\r\nDoug Jones Tim Scott\r\nUnited States Senator United States Senator\r\n\r\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://www.jones.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases/senators-doug-jones-and-tim-scott-urge-usda-to-immediately-implement-heirs-property-provisions-secured-in-2018-farm-bill-"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 0.9993677958846092, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}