Estimated Personnel Needs of the Agricultural Stabilization and Conservation Service--Are They Reliable?

The Agricultural Stabilization and Conservation Service (ASCS) administers farm commodity and land-use programs through a network of service offices in States and counties. Each State has an administrative office to provide oversight and support to county offices, but most services to the farmer take place at over 2,700 federally funded county offices. The ASCS budget request for personnel increased significantly after fiscal year 1977 due to the Food and Agriculture Act of 1977 and other Department of Agriculture policy decisions. A request was made for GAO to review the validity of ASCS work measurement and workload forecasting systems for determining staffing requirements.