Lawsuit follows multiple warnings to USDA from WILL and Congressional Delegation

The News: WILL sued the Trump Administration’s Department of Agriculture (USDA) over several discriminatory programs that deny financial assistance to farmers based on race and sex. WILL filed this lawsuit on behalf of our client, Adam Faust, a Wisconsin dairy farmer.

The lawsuit follows WILL’s warning to the Trump Administration in April that USDA was continuing to implement Biden-era DEI programs. In May, members of Wisconsin’s congressional delegation, including Representatives Tony Wied (R-08), Bryan Steil (WI-01), Derrick Van Orden (WI-03), Scott Fitzgerald (WI-05), Glenn Grothman (WI-06), and Tom Tiffany (WI-07), also called on the USDA to investigate and end the discriminatory policies against Mr. Faust and other farmers around the country. There has been no relief for our client and no meaningful response from President Trump’s Secretary of Agriculture, Brooke Rollins.

The Quotes: WILL Deputy Legal Counsel, Dan Lennington stated, “We warned USDA and the Trump Administration: the Biden-era discriminatory programs must go. We’ve been patient, but equality cannot wait. While President Trump has been perfectly clear that racial discrimination has no place in his Administration, USDA remains a notable hold out.”

WILL Client, Adam Faust, stated, “The USDA should honor the President’s promise to the American people to end racial discrimination in the federal government. After being ignored by a federal agency that’s meant to support agriculture, I hope my lawsuit brings answers, accountability, and results from USDA.”

Our Client: Adam Faust, a dairy farmer from Chilton, Wisconsin. He is one of the 2 million white male American farmers (60% of all farmers) who are still subject to discriminatory race-based policies implemented by the Biden administration’s USDA.

For years, Mr. Faust has battled back against unconstitutional discriminatory USDA programs. In a landmark 2021 victory, he was the first farmer to successfully sue the Biden Administration for race discrimination in the Farmer Loan Forgiveness Plan. Despite his efforts, Mr. Faust is still subject to several race-based policies that continue to hurt millions of farmers nationwide.

Additional Background: The Trump Administration has taken many commendable steps to root out race discrimination in many agencies, race-based policies and programs persist. USDA is the worst offender, running over two dozen race-based programs that unconstitutionally discriminate against farmers and ranchers every day. Three that affect our client the most can be found below:

Discriminatory Dairy Margin Coverage Administrative Fee: DMC offers financial assistance when the margin between the milk price and the average feed cost falls below a specific coverage level chosen by the producer. All “socially disadvantaged farmers” are exempt from the fee. USDA regulations define this phrase to include only the following racial groups: American Indians or Alaskan Natives, Asians or Asian Americans, blacks or African Americans, Native Hawaiians or other Pacific Islanders, Hispanics, and women.

Discriminatory Loan Guarantee Program: USDA guarantees loans to farmers, but white males may only receive a guarantee of 90% of the value of the loan, while women and minorities receive a 95% guarantee. A lower guarantee means higher interest rates and loan costs, and lower overall loan amounts.

The Environmental Quality Incentives Program: According to the USDA, EQIP is a “conservation program that helps farmers, ranchers and forest landowners integrate conservation into working lands.” Our client is participating in the program and hopes to use the program to offset costs of a new manure storage facility, but “socially disadvantaged farmers” receive more money than Mr. Faust based on their race.

Fighting for Equality: Since 2021, WILL has represented over 80 clients in 25 states as part of its Equality Under the Law (EUL) Project and has won seven times in court, including Faust v. Vilsack, and several of our cases are still pending.

Earlier this year, WILL released our “Roadmap to Equality,” which continues to track the Trump Administration’s progress on the elimination of DEI and all tax-payer-funded discrimination.

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