Episode 145: P. Wade Ross On Farming While Black In Texas

The Checkout speaks with Texas farmer, rancher and community advocate P. Wade Ross about farming while Black in Texas. Texas has over twice as many Black farmers as any other state.

P. Wade Ross runs a beef cattle operation on 120 acres of his family’s 100+ year old heir-land, just outside of Bryan/College Station. He serves as Chief Executive Officer for Texas Small Farmers and Ranchers Community Based Organization, a non-profit 501(c)3 established in 1998. P. Wade’s professional background is as a lifelong financial literacy/entrepreneurial trainer, which aligns with his deep passion to help small farmers gain the essential skills and infrastructure to run viable, sustainable farm operations.

The Texas Small Farmers and Ranchers Community Based Organization (TSFR/CBO) is a non-profit 501(c)3 organization founded in 1998 by W. Wade Ross (State Director) and, his wife, Anita Ross (Executive Administrator) while farming and ranching on 120 acres in Bryan, Texas – a legacy from his paternal grandfather, Jack Ross (a runaway slave from South Carolina in the late 1890’s). The uncultivated property was offered to
Grampa Jack for $1,200 by the townsfolks that wanted to keep him in the community for his excellent blacksmith talent. He was allowed to pay $100 a year for 12 years, so since he couldn’t read or write he notched an old tree in front of his little shack each year before he went into town to make his annual payment. On the 12th year after he made his final payment in town, a group of white men told him that they had chopped down his “payment tree” so he had to start his payments again which Jack did for another 12 years. To this day, the family cannot find a tree with his notches.

TSFR/CBO was initiated in Bryan, Texas by a group which included 30 Black farmers and ranchers from surrounding counties as its first members and also a few representatives in attendance from Prairie View A&M University (a 2501 – 1890 school) just prior to the settlement in April, 1999 of the infamous Pigford v. Glickman class action lawsuit. The lawsuit was filed in 1997 by Timothy Pigford, who was joined by 400
Black American farmer plaintiffs. Dan Glickman, the Secretary of Agriculture, was the nominal defendant. The allegations were that the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) treated black farmers unfairly when deciding to allocate price support loans, disaster payments, “farm ownership” loans, and operating loans; and that the USDA had failed to process subsequent complaints about racial discrimination.

TSFR/CBO was established with the purpose of reaching the goals of strengthening USDA outreach efforts to limited resource, traditionally underserved, and underrepresented farmer and rancher customers to ensure USDA and coordinate program delivery outreach efforts in counties throughout Texas.
This CBO is actively accelerating assistance to minority, females, limited resource producers, veteran, beginning farmers and ranchers by providing outreach assistance in receiving information, technical and program assistance from USDA, state and county agencies as well as various Texas universities. https://tsfrcbo.org/about-us/

Follow The Checkout on Facebook - Instagram - Twitter.

Stream The Checkout on Apple Podcasts - Spotify - Stitcher - Google Podcast