A 1987 federal law intended to prevent non-farmers from cashing in on federal farm payments is not getting enforced adequately by the USDA.
According to an investigation by the nonpartisan auditing arm of Congress, the USDA’s eligibility criteria do not clearly define who qualifies to receive farm payments distributed by the federal bureaucracy.
The General Accounting Office conducted the study at my request. Its report found that USDA lacks a 'measurable standard’ that would ensure that the 14-year-old law is being enforced as Congress intended. As a result, an unknown number of people and businesses with perhaps limited involvement in a farming operation are qualifying for farm payments.
Consider that the federal government pays out about $15 billion tax dollars a year in farm payments. That’s an awful lot of money. And it’s an awful shame to consider the USDA is unable to guarantee or quantify that these hard-earned tax dollars are going to farmers who genuinely qualify for the assistance.
Congress sought to rein in abuse of the system in 1987 by restricting eligibility to those actively engaged in a farming operation. To me, that means folks with real dirt underneath their fingernails. The June GAO report shows how some folks cashing in on the farm program may have no business receiving payments in the first place.
Designed as a safety net during the Great Depression, the farm program was crafted to help family farmers weather the tough times and strengthen economic vitality in Rural America.
In recent years, the payment system has meandered from its original intent. Today big-time farming operations are reaping the lion’s share of federal farm payments. And it’s eroding public support for the federal farm safety net.
That’s why I’ve led an effort in the U.S. Senate to clamp down on excessive farm payments to the biggest operators. I’m working to get a payment cap enacted so that federal dollars go to the family farmers who need help the most.
It’s inconceivable to me that in 2002, the top farm payment recipient nationwide received $110 million from the federal treasury. To compare, the top farm payment recipient in Iowa that year received $255,038. Now that’s a lot of money. But it’s peanuts compared to the millions of dollars in farm payments being cashed by some of the biggest farm operators in America.
Just consider the top 20 percent of recipients nationwide between 1995 and 2002 received 73 percent of the total payments. That means the remaining 80 percent of the recipients received only 27 percent of the payments. To me, this imbalance illustrates how the farm program has gotten off kilter.
From my leadership position in the U.S. Senate, I’ll continue to lead the charge to enact reasonable payment limits and put pressure on the USDA to tighten eligibility requirements and ensure the legitimacy of those receiving farm payments.
As a steward of the public purse, I take seriously my responsibility to stretch hard-earned tax dollars. And as a farmer-lawmaker, I pay extra close attention to protect the integrity of the farm safety net.
Some folks at the USDA have dropped the ball. And I’m going to do my best to make sure it doesn’t happen again.