evidence: Just a century later, however, that number had dwindled. 90 percent of the land amassed by Black farmers across the country had been lost1. According to the most recent U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Census, completed in 2017, Black farmers account for less than 7% of agricultural producers in South Carolina2. By Upstate county, that percentage varies from as little as 0.5% (Pickens3) to 6.9% (Greenwood4). [...] But more sinister factors were also at play. Discriminatory federal policies and financial lending practices are well documented. Black farmers were often denied access to USDA programs managed by locally elected boards5. [...] At the federal level, the 2018 Farm Bill contained a provision to assist heirs’ property owners get farm loans, take advantage of federal programs previously unavailable to them, and receive assistance in resolving land ownership disputes9. Senator Tim Scott of South Carolina co-sponsored the heirs’ property language in the bill. Late last year, Senator Cory Booker of New Jersey introduced United States Senate Bill 4929, the "Justice for Black Farmers Act of 2020," that as proposed would end discrimination within the USDA, expand upon funding for the 2018 Farm Bill’s heirs’ property programs, establish a USDA grant of up to 160 acres to existing and aspiring Black farmers, and more.