evidence: "When it comes to farming and agriculture, we know that there is a direct connection between discriminatory policies within the USDA and the enormous land loss we have seen among Black farmers over the past century," Booker said in a statement about the Justice for Black Farmers Act. [...] Years of discrimination left Black farmers with more debt than their counterparts, and less land and access to credit, contributing to a decline in the number of farmers who are not white. [...] Black farmers sued the USDA in 1997, arguing that racial discrimination led to Black farmers losing out on important federal assistance such as farm loans between 1981 and 1996. The landmark class-action suit Pigford v. USDA was settled for $1 billion, with the main payment being $50,000 to farmers whose claims were accepted with additional debt and tax liability.