GAO Offers Advice to Improving USDA’s “Actively Engaged”

WASHINGTON, DC – The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) distributes billions of dollars a year through programs that, by law, require payment recipients to be actively engaged in farming. Recipients can be individuals or entities such as corporations and trusts and can receive up to $125,000 a year. In 2013, the non-partisan Government Accountability Office (GAO) found weaknesses in how USDA assessed whether recipients were actively farming. Though USDA has improved its reviews since then, GAO suggests that weaknesses remain. GAO recommended that FSA set a plan and time frame for using its tracking system to monitor compliance reviews, which FSA did. This review by GAO found that the FSA Administrator could ensure that farming operation members who receive federal payments comply with requirements to be actively engaged in farming by implementing better oversight of state offices and expecting timely completion of assigned reviews. In an effort to improve the process further, GAO is making five recommendations to the Farm Service Agency (FSA) that includes improving accuracy, monitoring the compliance review system, examining compliance review teams’ interview process, and providing additional guidance or training, as necessary.
(SOURCE: All Ag News)