Nonprofit Center for Heirs’ Property was in the middle of a five-year $8.5 million grant agreement with the U.S. Department of Agriculture when the department scrapped it.
The project was helping people who have inherited heirs’ property, or family land passed down without a clear title or ownership. Center CEO Jennie Stephens said it focused on providing legal services, financial education and technical assistance to landowners in the Black Belt region stretching from East Texas to Alabama.
“Some of our landowners say ‘God is not making any more land,’” Stephens said. “[With] heirs’ property, they may have land, but they can't utilize it because it's owned by multiple folks.”
This was one of 50 locally-led projects across the country funded through the USDA’s Increasing Land, Capital and Market Access Program. In 2023, the department awarded $300 million to organizations. But earlier this year, the Trump Administration cut the funding, halting 49 of the projects.
The program’s goal was to assist historically underserved farmers and ranchers, including Black, Indigenous and immigrant farmers, veterans and people farming for the first time.
Because of the cut, Stephens said 42 landowners working with the Center for Heirs’ Property and its partners are now in limbo.
Leaders of agriculture organizations who had their funding pulled say the cancellation is harmful to current and future producers.
Projects cut short
In termination letters sent to grantees, USDA officials said it found the program “involved discriminatory preferences based on Diversity, Equity and Inclusion and wasteful spending that did little to further lawful agricultural land purchases.”
Amanda Koehler is the manager of the Land, Capital and Market Access Network, a group of the program’s awardees and sub-awardees. She said USDA leadership froze funds, cut off communication and withheld approvals grantees needed to move forward with their work.
“And that's just not fair. If you're going to block people from doing the work that you've agreed that they are going to do, and then you terminate it as a result. That is a disingenuous reason to terminate these awards,” Koehler said.
The USDA did not respond to Harvest Public Media’s request for comment. But a department spokesperson told Minnesota Public Radio in March that the USDA is “committed to restoring financial discipline to ensure programs serve… farmers and ranchers”.
The spokesperson told MPR that the program “permitted the abuse of federal funds, including expenditures on the purchasing of a barbecue smoker, construction of a gazebo, massages, and, for one awardee, a $20,000 budget for ink pens alone.” The spokesperson did not share details about which awardees were accused of misusing funds.
Stephens, with the Center for Heirs’ Property, said the funding her organization received helped the nonprofit assist hundreds of producers.
While heirs’ property is often more prevalent among Black and Indigenous producers, it's a widespread problem across the U.S., according to a 2023 Fannie Mae report. Without clear ownership, it’s difficult to sell land or get federal farm benefits, and there is a bigger risk for partition sales.
In about two years, Stephens said the project delivered nearly 400 free legal consultations, resolved 35 titles and drafted 140 wills to prevent future heirs’ property. On average, she said it takes about two or three years to resolve cases.
“Heirs’ property is one of those things you don’t like, wake up today and then tomorrow your title is resolved,” Stephens said.
Stephens said the center’s project was not based on race, and heirs’ property is a far-reaching economic and property rights issue. It focused on veterans and new farmers who had land in their families for generations but couldn’t use it.
“This program was designed for a specific geographic region. That is our focus. It was never meant to be a racial designation,” Stephens said. “None of the partners discriminate, whoever comes in can access the services if they meet the program criteria.”
The Center for Heirs’ Property also lost federal funding last year through a USDA Partnerships for Climate-Smart Commodities grant. Stephens said the nonprofit is launching a campaign to help replace lost funds.
Another project, run by national nonprofit Trust for Public Land, was working to help Indigenous partners acquire and manage agricultural and forest land in ancestral and ceded areas.
In a statement, Ken Lucero, the trust’s indigenous and tribal communities director, said that having access to land is fundamental in building strong communities, upholding economies and preserving cultural heritages.
“Tribal lands hold deep historical, ecological, and cultural significance, and ensuring that Indigenous communities have the resources and opportunities to steward agricultural land is critical,” Lucero said in the statement. “We are deeply disappointed by the recent federal actions, but we remain committed to advancing land and conservation solutions in partnership with Tribal nations and local communities.”
Giving 'landless farmers a voice'
The average age of the American farmer is 58 as of 2022, and that number continues to rise, USDA data shows.
Farming takes having land, and Michelle Hughes, executive director of the National Young Farmers Coalition, said that’s the biggest challenge new producers face.
“That is because they do not have access to capital,” Hughes said. “Because they're up against development pressures and because many of the young farmers in our network are first generation farmers, which means that they do not have generational wealth, at least in the agriculture sector, which usually includes some land, if you're lucky, being passed down to them.”
It’s a difficult and demanding job, and Hughes said this program was meant to support people who have historically faced barriers to farming.
Given the Trump Administration’s large cancellation of similar grants and programs last year, she was surprised the termination didn’t come sooner, because of the program’s focus on equity. The National Young Farmers Coalition advocated against the cut.
“I think that this attack on DEI, to me, is just a blatant disregard for the history of the United States,” Hughes said. “I think that this program did not exist solely for racial equity. It was a program that gave landless farmers a voice. Many of those farmers happen to be disenfranchised.”
Hughes said the grants were historic because the USDA had never administered a land-grant program of its size. The coalition has been working with organizations to reach out to lawmakers.
Koehler, with the Land, Capital and Market Access Network, said this cut comes at a difficult time in the agricultural economy.
“We've lost a huge tool to fight farmland consolidation, address our aging agricultural population and really make sure the next generation of producers can can succeed,” Koehler said.
Harvest Public Media’s Tadeo Ruiz Sandoval contributed to this report.
This story was produced in partnership with Harvest Public Media, a collaboration of public media newsrooms in the Midwest and Great Plains. It reports on food systems, agriculture and rural issues.
