Title 7, AgricultureRelease 119-110
§2279–1 Transparency and Accountability for Socially Disadvantaged Farmers and Ranchers
Title 7 › CHAPTER 55 — DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE › § 2279–1
Summary
Require USDA to collect and publish yearly data showing how many socially disadvantaged farmers and ranchers apply for and use each USDA program. The agency must count raw numbers and calculate participation rates by race, ethnicity, and gender for every program, county, State, and for the whole country. USDA agencies must share the needed data. The final tables must be made available to the public online and in print, and the term "socially disadvantaged farmer or rancher" is the same as defined in section 2003(e). USDA must protect privacy and not release anyone’s name or individual records. The data can only be used to check nondiscriminatory access and not to judge individual benefit requests. When someone asks for a USDA benefit or service from FSA, NRCS, or Rural Development, they must get a dated receipt that shows what was requested and what action was taken or recommended.
Full Legal Text
Title 7, §2279–1
Agriculture, Source: USLM XML via OLRC
(a)Purpose
The purpose of this section is to ensure compilation and public disclosure of data to assess and hold the Department of Agriculture accountable for the nondiscriminatory participation of socially disadvantaged farmers and ranchers in programs of the Department.
(b)Definition of socially disadvantaged farmer or rancher
In this section, the term “socially disadvantaged farmer or rancher” has the meaning given the term in section 2003(e) of this title.
(c)Compilation of program participation data
(1)Annual requirement
For each county and State in the United States, the Secretary of Agriculture (referred to in this section as the “Secretary”) shall annually compile program application and participation rate data regarding socially disadvantaged farmers or ranchers by computing for each program of the Department of Agriculture that serves agricultural producers and landowners—
(A)raw numbers of applicants and participants by race, ethnicity, and gender, subject to appropriate privacy protections, as determined by the Secretary; and
(B)the application and participation rate, by race, ethnicity, and gender, as a percentage of the total participation rate of all agricultural producers and landowners.
(2)Authority to collect data
The heads of the agencies of the Department of Agriculture shall collect and transmit to the Secretary any data, including data on race, gender, and ethnicity, that the Secretary determines to be necessary to carry out paragraph (1).
(3)Report
Using the technologies and systems of the National Agricultural Statistics Service, the Secretary shall compile and present the data compiled under paragraph (1) for each program described in that paragraph in a manner that includes the raw numbers and participation rates for— (A)
(B)each State; and
(C)each county in each State.
(4)Public availability of report
The Secretary shall maintain and make readily available to the public, via website and otherwise in electronic and paper form, the report described in paragraph (3).
(d)Limitations on use of data
(1)Privacy protections
In carrying out this section, the Secretary shall not disclose the names or individual data of any program participant.
(2)Authorized uses
The data under this section shall be used exclusively for the purposes described in subsection (a).
(3)Limitation
Except as otherwise provided, the data under this section shall not be used for the evaluation of individual applications for assistance.
(e)Receipt for service or denial of service
In any case in which a current or prospective producer or landowner, in person or in writing, requests from the Farm Service Agency, the Natural Resources Conservation Service, or an agency of the Rural Development Mission Area any benefit or service offered by the Department to agricultural producers or landowners, the Secretary shall issue, on the date of the request, a receipt to the producer or landowner that contains—
(1)the date, place, and subject of the request; and
(2)the action taken, not taken, or recommended to the producer or landowner.
Legislative History
Notes & Related Subsidiaries
Editorial Notes
Codification Pub. L. 110–234 and Pub. L. 110–246 made identical
Amendments
to this section. The
Amendments
by Pub. L. 110–234 were repealed by section 4(a) of Pub. L. 110–246.
Amendments
2014—Subsec. (e). Pub. L. 113–79, in introductory provisions, struck out “and, at the time of the request, also requests a receipt” after “landowners”. 2008—Subsecs. (c), (d). Pub. L. 110–246, § 14006, added subsecs. (c) and (d) and struck out former subsec. (c) which related to annual computation of the participation rate of socially disadvantaged farmers and ranchers as a percentage of the total participation of all farmers and ranchers for each Department of Agriculture program and requirement that participation according to race, ethnicity, and gender be included in each report. Subsec. (e). Pub. L. 110–246, § 14003, added subsec. (e).
Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries
Effective Date
of 2008 AmendmentAmendment of this section and repeal of Pub. L. 110–234 by Pub. L. 110–246 effective May 22, 2008, the date of enactment of Pub. L. 110–234, see section 4 of Pub. L. 110–246, set out as an
Effective Date
note under section 8701 of this title. Oversight and Compliance Pub. L. 110–234, title XIV, § 14007,
May 22, 2008, 122 Stat. 1446, and Pub. L. 110–246, § 4(a), title XIV, § 14007,
June 18, 2008, 122 Stat. 1664, 2208, provided that: “The Secretary [of Agriculture], acting through the Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights of the Department of Agriculture, shall use the reports described in subsection (c) of section 2501A of the Food, Agriculture, Conservation, and Trade Act of 1990 (7 U.S.C. 2279–1), as amended by section 14006, in the conduct of oversight and evaluation of civil rights compliance.” [Pub. L. 110–234 and Pub. L. 110–246 enacted identical provisions. Pub. L. 110–234 was repealed by section 4(a) of Pub. L. 110–246, set out as a note under section 8701 of this title.]
Reference
Citations & Metadata
Citation
7 U.S.C. § 2279–1
Title 7, Agriculture
Last Updated
Sep 22, 2026
Release point: 119-110