Available Data and Changes Resulting From the 1994 Act Make It Difficult to Provide a Clear Picture of Changes in Workload

Two factors—a limited amount of available data following the implementation of the 1996 act and other changes triggered by the 1994 act—make it difficult to isolate and assess the effects of the 1996 act on workload levels in county offices. Workload data are captured at the end of the fiscal year. Changes Other Than the 1996 Act Affect FSA’s Workload

A number of factors triggered by the 1994 act have also affected workload levels in county offices, making it difficult to isolate the impact of the 1996 act. These changes include the addition of responsibilities for agricultural credit and crop insurance programs and changes to USDA’s county office structure. Determining the effect of the changes resulting from the 1996 act in this context is not possible. County executive directors acknowledged that the time spent on specific activities for the commodity programs—both enrolling farmers in the programs and ensuring compliance with the program’s requirements—has decreased since the passage of the 1996 act. However, the directors believed that this decrease was largely offset by increases in the number of contracts needed to be completed because of the increased level of participation in the program. However, because only 6 months of data for fiscal year 1997 are available, we do not have a basis for assessing the full impact on the workload for 1997 and beyond. Because of the absence of a full year of 1997 data and additional issues identified at the county office level, we cannot confirm the county executive directors’ observations or isolate the impact of the 1996 act on any workload changes that may have occurred in these offices. The data indicated that about 2 staff years of effort per office is being devoted to the activities associated with keeping the office open and functioning. Accordingly, unless additional offices are closed, any future staff reductions will probably have to be concentrated in the larger county offices. Agency Comments

We provided copies of a draft of this report to the Department’s Farm Service Agency for its review and comment. FSA generally concurred with the results of our review, except for the draft report’s discussion of the capabilities of the agency’s work measurement and workload systems. We met with USDA headquarters, state, and county officials to obtain their views on the impact of the 1996 act on county office workload. Profile of the 16 County Offices Visited

This appendix provides information on the county offices we visited to determine workload changes at the county office level.
Why GAO Did This Study

Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO reviewed the impact of the Federal Agriculture Improvement and Reform Act of 1996 on the Farm Service Agency's county office workload.

What GAO Found

GAO noted that: (1) because of the limited availability of the Farm Service Agency's fiscal year (FY) 1997 actual workload data and changes in the U.S. Department of Agriculture's program and organizational structure resulting from the Federal Crop Insurance Reform and Department of Agriculture Reorganization Act of 1994, it is not possible to determine the impact of the 1996 act on the workload of the Farm Service Agency's county offices; (2) the agency's workload system reflects workload data at the end of the fiscal year in which the work was performed; (3) however, because only 6 months of data were available for FY 1997 at the time of GAO's review, GAO could not measure the impact of the 1996 act on county office workload; (4) furthermore, the 1994 act generated a number of changes affecting the agency's staffing and responsibilities; (5) because these changes were being implemented at the same time as the changes directed by the 1996 act, it is not possible to isolate the impact of either set of changes on the resulting workload; (6) the 1994 changes include the addition of responsibilities for agricultural credit and crop insurance programs and changes to the Department's county office structure; (7) at the 16 county offices GAO visited, county executive directors believed that the overall workload per employee has increased since the passage of the 1994 act; (8) they stated, however, that a number of factors have affected staffing and workload during this period and that the role of the 1996 act on the perceived workload increases is indeterminable; (9) because of the absence of a full year of 1997 data and additional issues identified at the county office level, GAO cannot confirm the county executive directors' observations or isolate the impact of the 1996 act on any workload changes that may have occurred in these offices; (10) while the results of GAO's work concerning the impact of the 1996 act on workload levels are inconclusive, available information generally confirms the observations of the agency's budget officials that each county office requires about 2 staff years to handle the basic administrative functions associated with keeping the office open and functioning during the day; and (11) accordingly, unless additional offices are closed, any future staff reductions will probably be concentrated in the larger offices, which, unlike smaller offices, allocate a higher proportion of their total costs for service to farmers than to overhead.