Black Land Loss Prevention

Land is one of the Black farmers' most significant and valuable assets.  Black farmland ownership peaked in 1910 at 16 to 19 million acres and has decreased to less than 3 million acres today. The causes of the loss of rural Black land are numerous and complex, but none is more notable than heirs' property. 

Today, it is estimated that over 60% of all Black-owned land is heirs' property.

For over nearly six decades, the Federation has provided education and technical assistance to thousands of heirs land property owners across the South, intending to reverse the trend of Black land loss and encourage land-based economic development.  In support of this mission, the Federation established its Regional Heirs Property and Mediation Center in 2017 to coordinate a collaborative network of partnerships and resources to address the systemic problems associated with heirs' property throughout the Black Belt region. These partnerships provide rich research and advocacy opportunities on heirs' property issues.

The Federation of Southern Cooperatives, in collaboration with the Alcorn State University Socially Disadvantaged Farmers and Ranchers Policy Research Center, completed a research study entitled “Land Loss Trends Among Socially Disadvantaged Farmers and Ranchers in the Black Belt Region.”  The primary goal of this study was to describe better the impact of heirs' property on Black farms and land loss, to recommend policies that could decelerate that loss, and to improve access to USDA programs for heirs' property owners.