For decades, critics have alleged USDA has a history of discriminatory behavior and bias against women and farmers of color. (Disclosure: Having served at USDA, your editor has first-hand experience fighting against this behavior.)
Now, USDA seems to be trying to do something about it. This should help farmers who hit the wall of USDA’s unfair lending practices. Sadly, it won’t do much related to USDA’s internal culture that created the problems in the first place., but one step at a time.