Feds Have No Idea If $4 Billion Farmers Program Does Anything

The federal government has no idea whether a $4 billion U.S. Department of Agriculture initiative for beginning farmers has worked at all, according to the Office of Inspector General (OIG). “USDA can neither ensure that the $3.9 billion of beginning farmer assistance in fiscal years 2012 and 2013 has achieved effective and measurable outcomes nor determine if three decades of beginning farmers assistance has resulted in sustainable farming operations,” the OIG added. The audit pointed to a report from the Government Accountability Office in 1982 that urged the USDA to accurately measure whether the program was beneficial to Americans. Subsequent reports found the agency has not corrected the problem. The 2008 Farm Bill mandated the USDA to create an Office of Advocacy and Outreach (OAO) “to measure the outcomes of the programs and activities of the Department related to beginning farmers.” “However, after 5 years of existence, OAO officials could not provide us with evidence supporting how they have accomplished four of the seven essential duties mandated by the 2008 Farm Bill,” the audit said. An additional problem, according to the OIG, is that the government does not know what a “beginning farmer” is. “Another major obstacle in measuring the effectiveness of beginning farmer assistance is the Department’s lack of a standard definition of ‘beginning farmers,’” the audit said...more

Come on, let's be fair.  After all, they've only had 32 years to figure a way to measure the programs benefits.  Let's be reasonable...

A better question is:  Why has Congress, for 32+ years, continued to fund a program that neither they or the administering agency have any idea whatsoever is beneficial?