Quietly Effective

The new alliance between the Risk Management Agency and the Farm Service Agency taps into the expertise and knowledge of skilled local professionals who help keep concerns from turning into problems. For insights into how the new process is working, check out these recent dispatches from the field.

Word came to the Farm Service Agency’s (FSA) Columbus/Brunswick, NC, office that several insured planters who had purchased crop insurance coverage for their sweet potato crops had scheduled delivery of sweet potato slips (seedlings) after June 30. That would have been of no concern, except sweet potato crop insurance policies require planting by June 30.

After notifying Bob Figulski at Raleigh’s compliance office about the allegation, Robert Osborne, a certified appraiser from the FSA county office, made trips to the sites and documented several hundred acres of prepared, unplanted acreage in addition to 4000-5000 acres already under cultivation. Subsequent inspections by the insurance companies involved ended late planting in mid-row, thereby reducing potential liability for late-planted sweet potatoes by an estimated $346,000.

Coke Gray, County Executive Director of Columbus and Brunswick Counties, commented on the new partnership with RMA, "Most farmers are honest, hard working people who are not out to cheat the government. However, we believe that the new RMA/FSA alliance will certainly reduce program abuse. Farmers will become aware that more eyes are taking a closer look at their cultivation practices."

Ronie Griffin, Senior Investigator in RMA's Midwest Regional Compliance Office in Indianapolis, coordinated the review and resolution of a USDA's Office of Inspector General hotline complaint under RMA's new working relationship with the Michigan Farm Service Agency (FSA). Griffin reported, "The new system worked very well. I am pleased with the cooperation between the agencies and the professional manner in which the complaint was resolved."

A hotline caller alleged a Michigan soybean producer was not following standard soybean growing practices. Within four days of the referral from RMA’s Indianapolis Compliance Office, the Arenac County FSA office checked out the farmer's fields and found the complaint baseless. The insured soybeans were being cared for in a workmanlike manner and were in the same general condition as others in the area. The findings were supported with photographs and details about the condition of the crop.