Cornelius Blanding, Executive Director, Federation of Southern Cooperatives, Discusses the Impact Government Shutdown on Farmers on Everything Co-op with Vernon Oakes.
Unfortunately there are multi-layered effects of the Partial Government Shutdown. Many Black farmers in the Southern Belt stand to possibly even suffer the loss of their land. For those farmers who need to process loans through USDA, PLEASE NOTE that USDA was reopened on January 17, and will be open until January 22, to handle urgent matters.
Vernon and Cornelius discuss support that the Federation of Southern Cooperatives Land Assistant Fund, (FSC/LAF) affords to farmers in the states that they represent. The Federation of Southern Cooperatives/Land Assistance Fund, assists limited resource farmers, landowners, and cooperatives across the South with business planning, debt restructuring, marketing expertise, and a whole range of other services to ensure the retention of land ownership and cooperatives as a tool for social and economic justice. The overall mission is to reverse the trend of black land loss and be a catalyst for the development of self-supporting communities via cooperative economic development, land retention and advocacy.