The USDA’s Discrimination Financial Assistance Program (DFAP) was created to provide financial assistance to farmers, ranchers and forest landowners who experienced discrimination in USDA farm lending before January 1, 2021. Congress authorized $2.2 billion for the program, but that was a total program authorization—not a promised payment to each applicant. The application period closed on January 13, 2024. In a September 2025 audit, USDA’s Office of Inspector General (OIG) found that the agency did not always follow its payment controls.
What was the USDA discrimination assistance program?
Section 22007 of the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 authorized $2.2 billion for DFAP. The program addressed discrimination by USDA in farm lending before January 1, 2021. It was separate from other assistance authorized by the law, including assistance for distressed borrowers. USDA Farm Service Agency (FSA) program fact sheet; USDA OIG audit.
The $2.2 billion figure was the total funding authorization, not an individual award or a guarantee that every applicant would receive money. OIG’s 2025 report says the statute allowed a maximum of $500,000 per applicant and required the funds to be spent by September 30, 2031. USDA said individual award amounts would depend on the number of eligible applicants and the consequences of the discrimination.
Who qualified under the program’s historical rules?
USDA’s applicant fact sheet described two covered pathways. The published criteria were tied to discrimination in USDA Farm Loan Programs before January 1, 2021:
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- An individual experienced discrimination in a USDA Farm Loan Program before the cutoff date.
- An individual was a current debtor with assigned or assumed USDA farm-loan debt that had itself been subject to discrimination before the cutoff date. USDA gave inherited debt as an example.
These are the program’s historical published eligibility terms, not a determination about any particular person’s claim. They do not mean that every farmer who experienced discrimination in any context qualified; the criteria concerned USDA farm lending. USDA FSA applicant fact sheet.
Are applications still open?
No. The application period opened July 7, 2023, and, after an extension, closed January 13, 2024. Historical submission options included online applications, paper forms by mail and delivery at local program offices. USDA said applicants did not need FSA records to apply, though they could attach relevant records if available. Those application routes were for the now-closed period; they should not be treated as a current way to apply. USDA FSA applicant fact sheet; USDA FSA deadline extension announcement; USDA FSA program launch announcement; USDA program announcement.
What did the 2025 USDA OIG audit find?
USDA OIG issued Audit Report 50601-0006-23 on September 8, 2025. It examined DFAP application reviews and disbursements, reviewed application and payment records submitted and processed in fiscal year 2024, and assessed internal controls. OIG said: “We found that USDA generally designed adequate internal controls to ensure consistent and accurate DFAP application reviews and award disbursements.” It added: “However, USDA did not always follow its designed controls.”
The audit’s scope matters: OIG did not review individual application scores because eligibility factors were subjective and the administrator’s scoring system could not be recreated. Its findings concern program controls and specified payment-integrity issues; they are not a reassessment of every applicant’s claim.
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OIG reviewed records for 61,917 applications and more than 43,000 disbursed payments in fiscal year 2024. Those figures describe the records in the audit’s review, not a final count of all program recipients.
Documented review and questioned costs
Of 10,878 applications flagged for payment-integrity concerns, 3,019 (27.7 percent) lacked consistently documented final concurrence. OIG also identified $5.3 million in unsupported questioned costs connected to 563 approved applications flagged for payment-integrity concerns, and $2 million in questioned costs paid to 20 applicants who did not meet eligibility requirements.
“Questioned costs” are amounts the audit identified for review or recovery as appropriate. The term does not establish that every payment was fraudulent or that every recipient was ineligible. OIG reported that in some cases approval was communicated verbally without documentation, and that USDA reconciled payments after Treasury disbursed them rather than conducting the planned review before payment.
Third-party payment handling
OIG identified $3.6 million in questioned costs associated with allowing a third-party bank, rather than Treasury, to disburse DFAP funds. This was an audit concern about the disbursement arrangement, not a finding that all recipients who received payments through it were ineligible.
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Recommendations and what is known about follow-up
OIG recommended that USDA re-review applications without documented concurrence, take appropriate action and recover amounts determined to be unallowable or improper, and apply lessons learned to future programs involving nongovernmental administrators. USDA agreed with the recommendations, and OIG accepted management decision for all three. The report does not establish that every corrective action or recovery was completed by October 8, 2026.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.What applicants were told about fees and assistance
During the application period, USDA said applying was free and applicants did not need to retain an attorney. It warned about misleading solicitations, requests for sensitive personal information and organizations charging to file applications. USDA also said technical assistance was available. These were official instructions for the closed application process, not an indication that applications can still be filed. USDA FSA applicant fact sheet; USDA FSA launch announcement.
USDA listed community organizations that supported applicants, including AgrAbility, Farmer Veteran Coalition, Farmers’ Legal Action Group, Federation of Southern Cooperatives, Intertribal Agriculture Council, Land Loss Prevention Program, National Young Farmers Coalition and Rural Coalition. That historical list does not confirm that any organization currently offers DFAP-related services; check directly before relying on it.
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