White South African Farmers Flock to Mississippi Delta

Drawn by higher wages and perceived persecution at home, South African agricultural workers are reshaping the racial dynamics of the region.

Apr. 8, 2026 at 5:57am

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A vibrant, fractured painting of a farm tractor in overlapping geometric shapes and waves of warm brown, orange, and red tones, conveying a sense of motion and political tension.The arrival of white South African farmers in the predominantly Black Mississippi Delta region has stirred debate about the complex racial dynamics of American agriculture.Leland Today

A growing number of white South African farmers and farmhands, many of them descendants of Afrikaner colonists, have migrated to the Mississippi Delta region in recent years, taking advantage of the H-2A agricultural visa program to work on large commodity crop farms. This influx has stirred debate about the purpose of America's refugee policies, the treatment of white farmers in South Africa, and the history of racial inequity in the Delta's agricultural industry.

Why it matters

The arrival of these South African workers in the predominantly Black Mississippi Delta region highlights the complex and often fraught racial dynamics of American agriculture. It raises questions about the motivations behind the Trump administration's policies favoring white South African refugees, the realities of violence and land ownership in post-apartheid South Africa, and the long history of racial inequity in the Delta's farming industry.

The details

Many of the South African workers, like 31-year-old Nick Ramsden, come from farming backgrounds in South Africa and are drawn to the Delta by the prospect of higher wages, as much as four times what they could earn at home. They also express a sense of escaping anti-white sentiment in South Africa, citing issues like the country's land reform efforts and the rhetoric of politicians like Julius Malema. However, experts argue that the claims of 'white genocide' are overblown, and that the violence faced by white farmers is more economically motivated than racially targeted. In the Delta, the influx of South African workers has led to tensions, with some local Black farmworkers filing lawsuits alleging wage discrimination. Farmers argue the South Africans are more capable of handling the physical demands of modern row-crop farming, as the local workforce has aged.

  • In 2021, Nick Ramsden moved to the U.S. to take up work at Nelson-King Farms in Mississippi.
  • In 2024, nearly 15,000 South Africans arrived in the U.S. through the H-2A agricultural visa program.
  • In 2025, the Trump administration issued an executive order freezing foreign aid to South Africa and imposed tariffs, citing 'violent attacks on innocent disfavored minority farmers.'

The players

Nick Ramsden

A 31-year-old farmer from Pretoria, South Africa who moved to the U.S. in 2021 to work at Nelson-King Farms in rural Mississippi.

Walter King

One of the co-owners of Nelson-King Farms in Mississippi, who says the H-2A program is essential to his farm's operations.

Julius Malema

A member of the South African parliament and the founder of the opposition party Economic Freedom Fighters, who has made controversial statements about white farmers.

Eve Fairbanks

The author of 'The Inheritors: An Intimate Portrait of South Africa's Racial Reckoning', who argues that claims of 'white genocide' in South Africa are overblown.

Calvin Head

A Black farmer who runs a cooperative of Black farmers in Holmes County, Mississippi and discusses the challenges they face.

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What they’re saying

“The country has gone to shit.”

— Anonymous farmhand

“The party that's in control of South Africa now, they need to be wiped off this earth. They need to be thrown in jail.”

— Franco Hendriks, 26-year-old worker at a farm in Boyle, Mississippi

“It's difficult to say what the motivation was, whatever the reason, such violence was frequent.”

— Anonymous farmhand

“If this program went away tomorrow, farming would cease.”

— Walter King, Co-owner of Nelson-King Farms

“The people still making money in the Delta are white farmers.”

— Calvin Head, Black farmer who runs a cooperative in Holmes County, Mississippi

What’s next

The Department of Labor is expected to announce new regulations for the H-2A visa program in the coming months, which could impact the employment of South African workers in the Mississippi Delta.

The takeaway

The influx of white South African farmers and farmhands to the predominantly Black Mississippi Delta region highlights the complex racial dynamics of American agriculture. It raises questions about the motivations behind recent U.S. policies favoring white South African refugees, the realities of land ownership and violence in post-apartheid South Africa, and the long history of racial inequity in the Delta's farming industry.