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Secretary Vilsack has made civil
rights one of his top priorities at USDA. As part of this effort
the USDA and the Department of Justice (DOJ) have been working
on a unified claims process for Hispanic and women farmers and
ranchers who were discriminated against. On Friday, February
25, USDA announced a process that allows the Department to provide
significant relief to Hispanic and women farmers who were unjustifiably
denied farm loan program benefits between 1981 and 2000 because
of their ethnic background or gender.
This process will include extensive outreach and notice efforts
to Hispanic and women farmer communities so that all eligible
farmers will be given an opportunity to participate. We need
your help to inform as many potential claimants as possible. Please
post the attached Notice and Fact Sheet ( there are both English
and Spanish language versions) to your list recipients and instruct
anyone who inquires about this process to call 1-888-508-4429
or visit the claims process web-site at https://farmerclaims.gov.
The following forms are available on-line to assist you: