WASHINGTON - The Agriculture Department plans to put more black farmers on the committees that have oversight in how federal farm subsidies are allocated.

The increase in black voters on the committees should happen soon after the November election, Vernon Parker, the department's top civil rights official, said Tuesday.

Parker spoke on a street outside the department's headquarters while about 75 demonstrators rallied against what they saw as the department's continuing refusal to rectify a history of discrimination. The department has settled one major class-action discrimination suit and faces the possibility of another.

The planned expansion of minority participation focuses on county committees elected by farmers. The committees review eligibility for programs administered by the Agriculture Department's Farm Service Agency.

The department's plan is a step in the right direction, said John Boyd, president of the National Black Farmers Association, but is "a dime too late."

Black farmers contend that white-dominated panels of three to five members in many counties have used their power to force the foreclosure of many black farms, which then are purchased by whites.