01/31/06 Satellites, Crop ins. fraud, spying? Pt.2

U.S.D.A.'s Risk Management Agency is cracking down on crop insurance fraud. And in a recent Associated Press story, one of the methods that is used to investigate, and even convict, persons believed to be involved in multi-million dollar fraud is satellite imaging. That story raised some red flags among some ag producers, especially when you take this story in the context of recent news reports about domestic spying efforts by the federal government in the name of homeland security. And it has led to some misconceptions about how R.M.A. is doing things that need some clarification. According to R.M.A.'s Shirley Pugh, one of them is that her agency has not secretly changed its name to Risk Management Agency  Black Ops. PUGH: They need not be concerned about U.S.D.A. spying on them because our effort is to help the farmers and ranchers out there and I guarantee you that every single person I work with is one-hundred per cent dedicated to that goal. Pugh says the inference of the story is that R.M.A. has its own satellite that can beam information on a moment's notice. All satellite imaging used in crop insurance fraud cases comes from existing U.S. Geogological Survey Land Sat Satellites. PUGH: Of course, this can't be used in all cases but when it is, it is already pulled from historical data that was already taken. We're not up there using a super duper U.S.D.A. satellite to spy on any one. And Pugh adds there is nothing secret about how R.M.A. monitors compliance, giving producers fair warning. PUGH: Many farmers will notice that they will receive a letter telling them they are on a spot check list because of some anomaly that has surfaced during the examination of all the data that the farmers give us about their operation. Doesn't mean anything's wrong. It just means something popped up that's unusual. Then you go out and you check. While there might have been misconceptions from the A.P. wire story, Pugh says R.M.A. officials aren't necessarily complaining about the message sent out from the story. PUGH: If there are people out there who maybe doing things that their honest neighbors are not doing, it may be good to know that we have a lot of different tools to use to deter and detect that kind of fraud. So yes, I suppose that getting the word out that we are out there looking for people who are abusing the program at the expense of the honest people involved in the program, I think that's not a bad idea.