One of the largest contributors of Black land loss in the USA is heirs property. What is heirs’ property? Tune in to this prerecorded session led by Kanika J.Davis, the National Outreach & Education Specialist from the United States Department of Agriculture.

This is a pre-recorded session about the Heirs Property Relending Program. The relending program will provide loan funds to eligible lenders to resolve ownership and succession on farmland with multiple owners. The lenders will give loans to qualified individuals to resolve these ownership issues.

Background/Context

Heirs Property is land that’s been passed from one generation to the next without a will or other legal document proving ownership. Beyond not being able to build on or develop the land, landowners must have the approval of all relatives before selling or mortgaging it. They’re also shut off from loan access, disaster relief, and other benefits. What’s more, developers can take the land through court-ordered sales.

Despite heirs’ property being especially prevalent among Hispanic populations in the Southwest, Indigenous communities out West (where it is termed fractional land), and throughout Appalachia...the phenomenon disproportionately affects African American families throughout the South, accounting for an estimated one-third of all Black-owned land. 

The Department of Agriculture has called heirs’ property “the leading cause of Black involuntary land loss,” and notes that it led to a 90 percent decline in Black-owned farmland nationwide between 1910 and 1997.

Untold numbers of Black Americans became landowners following the Civil War when the government handed over some 20 million acres, mostly in the South, under the Homestead Act. Three years later, Union General William Sherman promised formerly enslaved people “40 acres and a mule.” (President Andrew Johnson rescinded that, though.) By 1920, Black families owned 14 percent of all farmland in the U.S., a figure that’s fallen to less than 2 percent today.

Tune in to this panel to learn from three powerhouses in sustainable agriculture: 

Tenisio Seanima, who is the owner of Nature's Candy Farms, Urban Agriculture Manager for East Point, GA, and Urban Farming and Local-food-system planning expert.

Eugene Cook, who is a farmer designer, food producer, and content creator that is passionate about assisting to incubate food system entrepreneurs and train new growers. An internationally recognized food justice activist and urban farmer utilizing exclusively veganic growing methods. With his wife, he founded Grow Where You Are.

Charles Greenlea, who is the founder of ECO-PARADIGM, LLC and agricultural board chair of Black Sustainability, Inc., specializes in helping people, farmers and communities grow by providing a variety of agricultural services that are economically viable and ecologically sound across the state of Georgia. He believes healthy communities are those that mirror natural processes  and conserve and  protect natural resources. ECO-PARADIGM is about tapping into the inherent value of the Earth itself. 

Walk away learning:

1. About the intrinsic connection between personal health and the ability and stamina required for abundant food production, 
2. The best practices for growing food in diverse regions and conditions, the successful negotiation and management of farming in partnership with property owners,  
3. The value of consistency and documentation for reflection and improvement, and
4. About urban-agricultural-enterprise management systems and urban-agriculture-policy planning.