2024-002: Reporting – Beginning Farmers and Ranchers Development Grant Federal Program: Beginning Farmers and Ranchers Development Grant Assistance Listing No.: 10.311 Federal Agency: U.S. Department of Agriculture Pass-Through Entity: None Federal Award Identification Number: 2022-49400-38205 Repeat Finding: This is not a repeat finding Criteria – MOFGA is required to review and submit certain annual reports as part of its administration of the beginning farmers and ranchers development grant program. Condition – MOFGA filed certain reports after the required reporting deadlines, including the Federal Financial Report (SF-425) and Final Project Financial Report. Questioned costs – None. Cause – Management oversight on due date of required reports. Effect or potential effect – Reports are not submitted in accordance with federal guidelines and amounts within those reports may not be accurate. Context – Our sample of reports was a statistically valid sample. Recommendation – MOFGA should enhance controls over reporting to ensure that due dates are monitored and adhered to. Views of responsible officials – Management’s response is included in “Management’s Views and Corrective Action Plan” included at the end of this report.
Federal Program: Specialty Crop Block Grant Program – MPSIG IV Assistance Listing No.: 10.170 Federal Agency: U.S. Department of Agriculture Pass-Through Entity: None Federal Award Identification Number: 23SCBPME1171 Repeat Finding: This is not a repeat finding Criteria – Non-federal entities are prohibited from contracting with or making subawards under covered transactions to parties that are suspended or debarred. “Covered transactions” include contracts for goods and services awarded under a non-procurement transaction (e.g., grant or cooperative agreement) that are expected to equal or exceed $25,000 or meet certain other criteria as specified in 2 CFR section 180.220. All non-procurement transactions entered into by a pass-through entity (i.e., subawards to subrecipients), irrespective of award amount, are considered covered transactions, unless they are exempt as provided in 2 CFR section 180.215. When a non-federal entity enters into a covered transaction with an entity at a lower tier, the non-federal entity must verify that the entity, as defined in 2 CFR section 180.995 and agency adopting regulations, is not suspended or debarred or otherwise excluded from participating in the transaction. This verification may be accomplished by (1) checking the System for Award Management (SAM) Exclusions maintained by the General Services Administration (GSA) and available at SAM.gov Home (click on Search Record, then click on Advanced Search-Exclusions) (Note: The OMB guidance at 2 CFR Part 180 and agency implementing regulations still refer to the SAM Exclusions as the Excluded Parties List System (EPLS)), (2) collecting a certification from the entity, or (3) adding a clause or condition to the covered transaction with that entity (2 CFR section 180.300). Condition – During 2024, MOFGA did not perform any reviews of subrecipients to ensure they were in good standing before receiving federal funds. Questioned costs – None. Cause – MOFGA did not perform any reviews of subrecipients to ensure they were in good standing before passing through federal funds. Effect or potential effect – There is a risk that the specialty crop block grant funds a suspended or debarred subrecipient which could result in them receiving penalties or having their agreement for the grant terminated. Context – The sample of subrecipients was a statistically valid sample. Recommendation – MOFGA should put in a place a policy to review subrecipients standing to ensure that all subrecipients are appropriately receiving grant funds. Views of responsible officials – Management’s response is included in “Management’s Views and Corrective Action Plan” included at the end of this report.
Federal Program: Beginning Farmers and Ranchers Development Grant Assistance Listing No.: 10.311 Federal Agency: U.S. Department of Agriculture Pass-Through Entity: None Federal Award Identification Number: 2022-49400-38205 Repeat Finding: This is not a repeat finding Criteria – Management is responsible for preparing a complete and accurate Schedule of Expenditures of Federal Awards. Condition – During compliance testing, it was determined that the Schedule of Expenditures of Federal Awards provided to us to begin our audit was not complete and accurate. Context – Management was unable to fully reconcile the Schedule of Expenditures of Federal Awards to the general ledger. Cause – The information contained in the Schedule of Expenditures of Federal Awards was not accurate. Effect – As a result of the condition, management was unable to fully reconcile the Schedule of Expenditures of Federal Awards to the general ledger. Recommendation – In the future, management should ensure it implements appropriate processes and controls to ensure the Schedule of Expenditures of Federal Awards contains complete and accurate data. Views of Responsible Officials – Management acknowledges the finding and will implement appropriate processes and controls to ensure the Schedule of Expenditures of Federal Awards contains complete and accurate data.