( CNN ) -- Beginning Thursday , the head of the National Black Farmers Association will ride a tractor to Capitol Hill to press Congress to fund a historic discrimination case settlement involving minority farmers . John Boyd says he will make the ride on the tractor he named `` Justice '' each day the Senate is in session . Last week , he showed up in front of a federal courthouse in New York on a mule -- a reference to Civil War-era promises of assistance for freed African-American slaves . `` I 'm sorry my tractor may slow things down , but any delay in traffic is small potatoes compared to the years of delay black farmers have endured in our pursuit of justice , '' he said . Last month , the U.S. Senate failed to approve $ 1.25 billion for the settlement between the U.S. Agriculture Department and black farmers , prompting finger-pointing between both parties and outrage among the farmers . `` Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell have both told me personally , on multiple occasions , that they support resolving and funding this case , '' Boyd said . `` Justice in this case should know no partisan boundaries . '' Boyd has said black farmers are losing land at a rate three times faster than other agricultural workers . He said that it takes nearly 400 days to process a black farmer 's loan request at the Agriculture Department , compared with less than 30 days for white farmers . A 1997 case against the Agriculture Department , Pigford v. Glickman , was settled out of court 11 years ago , but tens of thousands of farmers missed the filing deadline to submit claims . As a senator , Obama sponsored a measure in the 2008 Farm Bill that reopened the case , known as Pigford II . The $ 1.25 billion settlement is owed to the farmers after years of being denied government farm loans and support from federal programs because of the color of their skin . Under a federal judge 's terms dating to 1999 , qualified farmers could receive $ 50,000 each to settle claims of racial bias . In February , the Department of Justice released a statement saying Attorney General Eric Holder and Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack were announcing a resolution to Pigford II . The statement said the settlement agreement is contingent on the appropriation of funds by Congress . Prominent members of both parties have voiced support for paying out the settlements . In July , the House approved a war supplemental funding bill that included money to pay for the settlement . But the attempt to approve the funds in August failed in the Senate . It was the seventh attempt by the Senate to approve the funds , Boyd said . CNN 's Shawna Shepherd , Alan Silverleib , Elise Zeiger and Ed Hornick contributed to this report .
The settlement involves the U.S. Agriculture Department . Qualified farmers could receive $ 50,000 each to settle claims of racial bias . Democrats and Republicans have supported paying out the money .