Center for Agribusiness Excellence (CAE)

Established at Tarleton in December 2000, the Center for Agribusiness Excellence is under the supervision of the U.S. Department of Agriculture's (USDA's) Risk Management Agency (RMA). The RMA helps the nation's farmers mitigate production risks through the Federal Crop Insurance Program. Tarleton has been joined by Planning Systems Incorporated in this first-of-a-kind academic-commercial cooperative effort. The Federal Crop Insurance Program gives 1.26 million farmers and ranchers in more than 3,000 counties $50 billion in protection for 114 crops on nearly 78% of the nation's insurable acres. Seventeen private insurance companies sell and service the policies.

CAE's data warehouse contains all RMA policy information from 1991 to the present plus data on weather, soils, and other agronomically relevant factors. Using warehouse data, CAE's Spotcheck List program identifies multi-year patterns that signal anomalous crop insurance claims. RMA compliance staff review these lists of potentially questionable claims, and the Farm Service Agency (FSA) notifies producers on the list that growing season inspections will be performed on their crops. Producers usually react to this notice by avoiding any contemplated improper activities, thereby resulting in dramatic, visible decreases in claims and payments both in the crop year and the following years.

In testimony presented to the U.S. House of Representatives Subcommittee on General Farm Commodities and Risk Management of the Committee on Agriculture, on June 15, 2006, Dr. Bert Little, CAE Executive Director, highlighted these results:
       * CAE saved the Federal Crop Insurance program $72 million in 2001, $110 million in 2002 and $81 million in 2003 through indemnities not paid because of increased scrutiny of suspicious claim activity.
       * For an investment of $22.5 million, by February 28, 2007, it has been conservatively estimated CAE data mining for the Spotcheck List program will produce savings of over $450 million since December 2000.
       * During 2005, at RMA's request, CAE delivered 122 new research products identifying program abuse and laying the groundwork for additional cost savings.
       * CAE's data mining tools were used to assist the USDA Office of Inspector General (OIG) in its investigations and audits of USDA programs, the Government Accountability Office (GAO), and the work of Federal prosecutors and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI).
       * CAE personnel served as expert witnesses for Federal prosecutors when requested.