Exhibit 653

Farm Programs: Direct Payments Should Be Reconsidered (GAO-12-640)

Exhibit 653 · GAO report

Farm Programs: Direct Payments Should Be Reconsidered (GAO-12-640)

in 2011, the top 25 percent of payment recipients received 73 percent of direct payments

From 2003 through 2011 USDA made more than $46 billion in direct payments, fixed annual payments based on historical crop production. Cumulatively $10.6 billion, almost one-fourth, went to producers who did not grow the associated crop in a given year, which program rules allowed. In 2011 the top 25 percent of recipients received 73 percent. USDA agreed with two recommendations and disagreed with two.

Source: U.S. Government Accountability Office
Date: July 2012
Quoted from: Highlights, p. 2 of PDF
Grade: Primary record
Document: https://www.gao.gov/assets/gao-12-640.pdf
Accessed: 2026-11-09
Cited by: Findings citing this exhibit

Cited by

Finding AGR-3.2: Primary record From 2003 through 2011 USDA paid more than $46 billion in direct payments based on historical acreage and production, and $10.6 billion of it went to producers who did not grow the associated crop in the payment year.
Finding AGR-3.6: Primary record ERS reports that farms with at least $1 million in gross cash farm income received nearly 11 percent of commodity program payments in 1991 and 34 percent in 2015, and describes the shift as similar to the shift in production value.