General Accounting Office Reviews of Department of Agriculture Activities

The Department of Agriculture engages in a variety of food and conservation programs. Domestic food assistance programs, which make up the bulk of Agriculture's budget, include the special supplemental food program for women, infants, and children; the summer food service program; and the food stamp program. There are a variety of benefit gaps and overlaps and administrative inconsistencies in the 13 major domestic food assistance programs. Conservation programs administered by the Department of Agriculture include the water bank program, activities under the Soil and Water Resources Conservation Act, erosion control programs, and the nonpoint source pollution control program. Although progress has been made in collocating field offices at the local level, there is substantial potential for additional collocation. Review of Agricultural Stabilization and Conservation Service management activities showed that the Service's work measurement and workload forecasting systems cannot yet be relied on for reliable projections of personnel needs. Too many agencies are involved in the management of international food assistance programs. The Farmers Home Administration should develop cost projections for subsidized and guaranteed loan programs and should incorporate them into its budget requests. The feasibility and utility of developing a mission budgeting structure in a step-by-step way that would retain the information and visibility now provided by the current appropriation account structure is being explored by GAO.