From the U.S. Government Accountability Office, www.gao.gov

Transcript for: How Does USDA Ensure the Integrity of Programs for U.S.
Farmers?

Description: Each year, the U.S. Department of Agriculture distributes
billions of dollars in payments to farmers. These payments provide
income that supports producers of key crops such as corn, cotton, and
soybeans. We talk with GAO's Steve Morris--an expert on federal
agriculture programs and a director in our Natural Resources and
Environment Team--about a new report on the Farm Service Agency's (FSA)
oversight of this program. 

Related GAO Work: GAO-21-95, Farm Programs: USDA Has Improved Its
Completion of Eligibility Compliance Reviews, but Additional Oversight
Is Needed

Released: November 2020

[Intro Music]

[Steve Morris:] We think implementing our recommendations will help USDA
better ensure that only persons who are actively contributing to the
farm are receiving payments. 

[Holly Hobbs:] Hi and welcome to GAO's Watchdog Report, your source for
news and information from the U.S. Government Accountability Office--I'm
Holly Hobbs.
Each year, the U.S. Department of Agriculture distributes billions of
dollars in payments to farmers. These payments provide income supports
to producers of key crops such as corn, cotton, and soybeans. In 2013,
GAO reviewed this program and found weaknesses in how USDA's Farm
Service Agency oversees the program--including how it checks that those
receiving payments met eligibility requirements like being actively
engaged in farming. 
Today we talk with GAO's Steve Morris--an expert on federal agriculture
programs and a director in our Natural Resources and Environment
team--about a new report that follows up on our work to see if FSA has
improved its oversight. Thanks for joining us Steve! 

[Steve Morris:] Thanks for having me on.

[Holly Hobbs:] So Steve, in 2013, we reported on FSA oversight of its
farm program, and FSA implemented our recommendations for that report.
But, we're doing a new report, so must have new concerns about their
oversight. Why are we looking at this again?  

[Steve Morris:] The government provides financial support to farmers if
they can show that they are, what's called, actively engaged in farming,
which essentially means they contributed capital, labor, and/or
management to the farm. So, each year, USDA conducts reviews to ensure
that only farmers who are meeting the requirements are getting payments.
The reviews will typically focus on famers who receive the highest
payment amounts, which sometimes is over $1 million dollars. Now the
good news is that the agency is doing a better job of conducting the
reviews and they've also developed an electronic system to more easily
track the completion and the results of the reviews. The not so good
news here, Holly, is that USDA doesn't monitor the system to ensure that
the review information is recorded accurately. So, for instance, we
found that some reviews reported as complete were also reported as not
conducted--which really raises some concerns about the UDSA's ability to
ensure that only eligible farmers are receiving payments. 

[Holly Hobbs:] So, just to be clear. It sounds like FSA doesn't know
whether some people, who are not actively farming, are still receiving
checks? Is that correct?

[Steve Morris:] Well, yes Holly. I mean, there is a concern given that
conducting these oversight reviews can be challenging to begin with. So,
for example, verifying whether someone is actually involved in managing
the farm by making decisions about when to plant and harvest crops can
be very difficult. One tool USDA can use to verify these contributions
is to interview folks to assess their knowledge of the farm and its
operation. But, we found that this doesn't really happen often. Just as
an example--USDA conducting interviews in only 6 of the 27 reviews that
we examined.

[Holly Hobbs:] And, what does it mean to be actively engaged in farming?

[Steve Morris:] To check that persons are actually contributing capital,
and labor, and management to the farm, USDA will review various business
documents, work records, residence information, and other types of data.
USDA may also conduct interviews to obtain additional insights about the
farm, its members, and the claimed contributions to the farm. But as I
just mentioned, Holly, this does not always happen.  

[Music:]

[Holly Hobbs:] So, it sounds like FSA has made improvements to its
oversight of its farm program to better ensure that the farmers who
receive payments are actively engaged in farming. But that there are
still some gaps in that oversight. Steve, did we make any
recommendations to help FSA improve its oversight? 

[Steve Morris:] We made several recommendations to improve the
oversight. For example, you know, we think USDA can better monitor that
tracking system I just mentioned to ensure that the reviews are
completed and recorded accurately; and also make better use of
interviews when verifying claimed contributions to the farm. 

[Holly Hobbs:] And last question--what's the bottom line of this report?

[Steve Morris:] Well Holly, you know, USDA provides billions of dollars
in payments every year to support farmers who are actively engaged in
farming. USDA has made some progress in overseeing these payments, but
we identified some opportunities for further improvements. And we think
that implementing our recommendations will help USDA better ensure that
only persons who are actively contributing to the farm are receiving
payments. 

[Holly Hobbs:] That was Steve Morris talking about GAO's recent review
of farm programs. Thank you for your time Steve! 

[Steve Morris:] Thank you, Holly.

[Holly Hobbs:] And thank you for listening to the Watchdog Report. To
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For more from the congressional watchdog, the U.S. Government
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