How many Black farmers are there in the US? Why we doubt the government stats

‘As the prime culprit in the dispossession of Black farmers, USDA benefits from the perception that the number of African American farmers is increasing or is higher than it really is.’ Photograph: Dee Dwyer/The Guardian

Earlier this summer, the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) released data that suggested that, after years of decline, the number of Black farmers has grown to more than 45,000.

This is in stark contrast to the dire situation of Black producers in the 1990s, when a New York Times article predicted their coming extinction; Black farm numbers had fallen below 20,000 in that decade.