Report Reveals Improper Payments at USDA

Cindy Zimmerman

A guest post by Agri-Pulse Editor Sara Wyant

agri-pulseWhen lawmakers talk about reducing “waste, fraud and abuse” in federal programs, they usually target the food stamp program, more recently called the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP).

In fact, Sen. Pat Roberts, R-Kan., introduced legislation recently that he said would “restore integrity” to the SNAP program, while saving $36 billion in taxpayer dollars. He’s supported by fellow Republican Senators Mike Johanns, R-Neb., and John Thune, R-SD.

“Times are tough right now for millions of Americans and government spending is out of control.” Roberts said. “This bill is a package of straightforward, commonsense reforms that have garnered bipartisan support in the past to address, waste, fraud and abuse.

But a recent report issued by the Office of Inspector General (OIG) provides fresh fodder for those convinced that USDA must do more to cut wasteful spending in other areas -while still delivering $144 billion in public services through more than 300 USDA programs.

The OIG found that seven of the 29 component agencies and offices administer “high-risk” programs that are vulnerable to significant improper payments. The seven agencies affected include the Food and Nutrition Service (FNS), Farm Service Agency (FSA), Commodity Credit Corporation (CCC), Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS), Rural Development (RD), Forest Service (FS), and the Risk Management Agency (RMA).

USDA estimated that these agencies’ 16 total high-risk programs made $5.5 billion in improper payments in fiscal year 2012, a 5.11 percent error rate. That’s an improvement compared to a 5.37 percent error rate in 2011. However, at least one agency has programs with improper payments exceeding 25 percent, explained OIG.

According to OIG, an improper payments are those that “should not have been made or that were made in an incorrect amount.” Improper payments also include those made to ineligible recipients, those made for “goods or services not received,” and those that lack “sufficient documentation.”

The OIG found that, for the second consecutive year, USDA failed to comply with the Improper Payments Elimination and Recovery Act of 2010 (IPERA), which requires that agencies meet seven specific requirements, including publishing improper payment estimates for all applicable high-risk programs; meeting a gross improper payment rate of less than 10 percent for each program; and publishing and meeting annual reduction targets.Read More

Agri-Pulse, USDA

Ag Leader Wants to Hear From You!

Melissa Sandfort

Insights Weekly Whether it’s good (hopefully!), bad or “help me before I throw this thing out into the field and run over it”, Ag Leader’s customer support staff wants to hear from you. And during busy seasons such as planting and harvest, customer support specialists are on hand extended hours to be sure that across all time zones, day or night, if you have a question in the field you can get an answer over the phone.

They may be called the silent heroes of the day, but Jordan Dittmer, Ag Leader Machine Guidance Support Supervisor, says, “We’re here to help. If you have something going on and you don’t tell us, we can’t help you. We want to hear from you.”

Listen to Dittmer explain

Ag Leader has also made a commitment to their dealer network through various classroom-style trainings and hands-on assistance, making dealers the next tier in customer support. Dittmer explains why Ag Leader continues to invest this time into developing dealers.

Listen to Dittmer explain

So think of these silent heroes as your next door neighbor, even though they may be thousands of miles away. In fact, most of the support staff are farmers just like you!

Listen to Dittmer explain

On behalf of Ag Leader’s support team, we wish you a safe, successful 2013 planting season!

Become a fan of Ag Leader on Facebook today, and get the latest precision ag videos on the YouTube channel. For more information about Ag Leader products and services, or to visit the blog site, go to www.agleader.com.

Ag Leader

Zimfo Bytes

Talia Goes

Zimfo Bytes

New Holland is Ready to Roll

Chuck Zimmerman

New Holland Friends and FamilyThis kind of draws your attention. $500 off! It’s the New Holland Friends & Family Coupons (pdf), part of their Ready to Roll Sales Event.

APRIL 1 through JUNE 30, 2013
SAVINGS FOR YOU – AND A FRIEND!

Simply bring this card to your New Holland dealer and present it at time of purchase – and share the additional cards with a friend or family member so you can all save. Don’t forget, this offer is in addition to current Ready to Roll Sales Event incentives. See your local New Holland dealer for details or visit readytoroll.newholland.com.

Scan for New Holland DealsThe Ready to Roll Sales Event is in full swing, and that means you can get 0% FINANCING or CASH BACK on select New Holland tractors, haytools, combines and more. We’re even offering you and a friend an extra $500 each in savings with our Friends & Family coupons . NOW is the season to buy what is on your wish list. See your New Holland dealer for complete details. GET IN, GET READY, GET ROLLING! Offer ends June 30, 2013.

Agribusiness, New Holland

Where Food Comes From Adds Website Sections

Chuck Zimmerman

Where Food Comes FromYou have to admit that WhereFoodComesFrom.com is a great url. Don’t you? It’s the answer to the question a lot of people ask these days. This is done by IMI Global which is “America’s leading provider of third-party identification, verification and traceability solutions for the livestock and agricultural industries. The Company supports more than 6,000 ranchers, feed yards, meatpackers, food retailers and restaurants with a wide range of solutions – including its USDA Process Verified (PVP) programs – which annually verifies marketing claims for approximately one half of all U.S. beef exports.”

The Company’s Where Food Comes From® retail and restaurant labeling program connects consumers directly to the source of the food they purchase by requiring all product carrying the label to be sourced from third-party verified suppliers. With the use of QR code technology, consumers can instantly access information about the producers behind their food. We know every meal has a story, and Where Food Comes From® allows consumers to discover it.

Where Food Comes From has added two new sections to their website, Food to Know and Food 2 Grow. Consumers, educators and students who are seeking a trusted resource for all types of food information can find it here. There are over 400 categories of information, including unique data on world food production statistics not available anywhere else. They also have a Today In section where I learned that today is National Cordon Bleu Day.

Agribusiness, Food

Support for Repeal of Catfish Inspection Program

Cindy Zimmerman

catfishThere’s a whole boatload of folks who think something is fishy about the USDA catfish inspection program that was included in the 2008 Farm Bill and they’d like to see it thrown back.

An effort to repeal the program apparently has widespread support in Congress and with a variety of agricultural companies and organizations. National Fisheries Institute spokesperson Gavin Gibbons says the program has already proven to be a waste of taxpayer dollars. “If you look at the Government Accountability Report for the catfish inspection program, it notes that over the last 4-5 years, USDA has spent $20 million on the program and has not inspected a single catfish,” he said.

nfiSenators John McCain (R-AZ) and Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH) have introduced a bill in the Senate to repeal the program, with a similar bill in the House sponsored by Reps. Vicky Hartzler (R-MO) and Lucille Roybal-Allard (D-CA). “It’s interesting to note that Vicky Hartzler is originally a soybean farmer from Missouri who has taken up this cause for two reasons. One, the obvious waste and duplication that she was sent to Washington to get rid of, but also the potential negative impact on the ag community at large.”

The American Soybean Association is one of a number of agricultural organizations that support repealing the program, which also includes the National Milk Producers Federation, National Pork Producers Council, National Turkey Federation and the U.S. Grains Council. Support for the program, which was originally sponsored by Sen Thad Cochran, comes from the US catfish industry which seeks more stringent inspections of foreign imports, but Gibbons says there are concerns that it could ultimately erect a trade barrier against imported seafood.

Find out more at RepealCatfish.com and listen to my interview with Gavin here: Gavin Gibbons, National Fisheries Institute

Aquaculture, Audio, USDA

Ah, to be Young Again

Melissa Sandfort

Creek2I dug back through some of my old pictures this weekend and found one of the creek just ¼ mile up the road from our house. It reminded me of all the scavenger hunts my brother and I went on when we were young(er) and stayed with my grandparents. Maybe that was just Grandma’s ploy to get us out of the house and out of her hair – either way, it was fun!

My son is 4 ½ now and really getting to the adventurous stage. If there’s a mud puddle, it’s been splashed; if there’s a dirt hill, it’s been climbed; if there’s a charged up battery, it’s been driven. Bad thing is, his favorite dirt pile is right at the edge of this creek where, if he’d slip and fall, he just might end up tumbling down a 20-foot embankment through sticks and thorns and into the creek. I keep telling myself I can’t protect him from everything, but I try.

When there’s a garter snake in the creek, it’s just irresistible to throw rocks. And in order to do that, don’t you have to be as close as possible?

Again, there’s that 20-foot (did I say steep?) bank!

Maybe I ought to teach him the safest way to get down to the creek. That would satisfy both of our wants. And while I’m at it, I’ll teach him that his muddy boots are supposed to keep the water OUT.

Until we walk again …

Uncategorized

Beef Checkoff Responds to OIG Report

Talia Goes

BeefCheckLogo_w_TagStatement by Weldon Wynn Cattlemen’s Beef Board Chairman & Cattle Producer from Star City, Ark.: April 2, 2013

“We are gratified that the Office of Inspector General (OIG) audit of the Beef Checkoff Program for the years 2008-2010 identified no audit issues and reported full compliance by the Beef Board and its contractors.

“In quoting directly from the report: ‘The relationships between the Cattlemen’s Beef Promotion and Research Board and other industry-related organizations including … the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association, complied with the (Act and Order)…. Funds were collected, distributed and expended in accordance with the legislation.’

“We are proud to receive this validation of the effectiveness of our systems and processes to safeguard producer and importer investments into the Beef Checkoff Program.

“Even with OIG’s confirmation that the Beef Board’s systems of oversight of funds are robust and effective and that its relationships with checkoff contractors are in compliance, the Beef Board maintains a mission toward continual improvement in our responsibility to producers. Since 2010, for example, CBB has operated under an intensified review and verification process, along with expanded and specific guidelines for contractors. In addition, CBB now requires contractors to provide additional information about implementation costs as they prepare funding requests, thus providing decision-makers with a more detailed understanding of project costs before approving them.

“The bottom line: Producers and importers can be assured by the OIG report and the Beef Board’s mission of continual improvement that our checkoff dollars are being invested appropriately and effectively.”

For a copy of the full report, go to OIG Audit Results

Listen To Weldon’s Statement

Agribusiness

Social Media Overload?

Talia Goes

Our latest ZimmPoll asked the question, “Has winter weather affected drought conditions in your area?”

Our poll results: Fifty percent said Yes, thirty-two percent said No, and eighteen percent said it’s Too Early To Tell. Seems the drought of 2012 may not be over. I heard once that weather cycles last 6 years. Sure hope that isn’t the case with this drought.

Untitled

Our new ZimmPoll is now live and asks the question, “How do you combat social media overload?” With the weekly AgChat Twitter conversation turning 4 years old it is obvious that something is working when it comes to farmers and industry using social media to advocate for their industry. But even if you are not actively agvocating you’re probably using some form of social media like Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, Pinterest and there are many more. So our question comes out of this week’s AgChat. For many it is easy to get so engrossed by the online conversation, especially with mobile devices like smart phones and tablets, that they start feeling overwhelmed by it all. Let us know … Are you on social media overload?

ZimmPoll is sponsored by New Holland Agriculture.

New Holland, ZimmPoll

Happy 4th Birthday AgChat

Chuck Zimmerman

Happy Birthday AgChatHappy 4th Birthday AgChat. That’s right. Four years of a weekly Twitter conversation about agriculture and food (FoodChat).

Last night was a lively AgChat on the topic of “What’s needed in #socialmedia for #ag.” Our moderator was the very popular @cowartandmore who did a marvelous job.

You can find the very first tweet here:

Testing out #agchat…currently scheduled for Tuesdays at 8-10 p.m.

Thanks to Michele Payn-Knoper for getting this started. Thanks to Kathy Swift for the image she tweeted last night!

Ag Groups