Evaluation of the Quality of Corn Stored by USDA at a Plainview, TX, Grain Warehouse
Gao ID: RCED-84-175 August 17, 1984Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO investigated reports that significant quantities of corn owned by the Commodity Credit Corporation (CCC) and stored in commercial warehouses in Texas had seriously deteriorated.
The GAO review focused on one particular warehouse in Texas where about 22 million bushels of CCC-owned corn have been stored since 1980. Analyses performed in November 1983 and in February 1984 revealed that the quality of the CCC-owned corn stored at the warehouse had not deteriorated beyond what would normally be expected over a period of almost 4 years. GAO found no basis for questioning the usefulness of the stored corn for making payments under the payment-in-kind (PIK) program or for feeding livestock. Officials stated that they were not aware of any complaints about the quality of the corn which the warehouse had supplied for the PIK program.