A federal farm subsidy program wasted nearly half its budget through improper payments in 2024, marking the highest error rate of any federal program tracked by the government. The Emergency Conservation Program (ECP) had an improper payment rate of 45 percent, meaning almost half of the $101 million it spent that year was paid in error or stemmed from fraud, according to a new Government Accountability Office (GAO) study examined by the Cato Institute on June 17, 2026. While the Trump administration has focused on cracking down on waste in low-income welfare programs, the analysis reveals that this agricultural subsidy program—which mainly benefits high-income farmers—far exceeds other federal programs in payment errors.
The ECP's improper payment rate has skyrocketed in recent years, jumping from 14 percent in 2021 to 45 percent in 2024, according to the GAO findings. The program spent $101 million in 2024, with payments going to farm and ranch businesses claiming damage from floods, hurricanes, wildfires, and droughts. The ECP represents only a small fraction of the $30 billion or more in annual farm subsidies distributed by the US Department of Agriculture (USDA). The program pays a percentage of claimed damage with a high cap of $500,000 per event, an amount that was increased in the 2018 Farm Bill from $200,000.
The report notes that payments are likely skewed toward larger and wealthier farm businesses because the ECP pays based on a percentage of damage with such a high payment cap. The authors write that the 45 percent improper payment rate "sets a new standard for waste" in federal programs. The analysis emphasizes that the ECP layers on top of other USDA programs that pay out billions to farmers facing business challenges, including federal crop insurance subsidies that provide about $10 billion annually to cover various claimed misfortunes. The report specifically flags that these are "claimed" losses because fraud is a serious problem in the program.
The rising improper payment rate reveals fundamental problems with how the federal government administers farm aid programs, according to the analysis. Farm businesses should hold private insurance against contingencies like weather damage rather than relying on government handouts, the report argues. The lax administration illustrated by the ECP's soaring error rate—more than tripling in just three years—reflects broader issues across the farm subsidy system that distributes tens of billions of dollars annually with insufficient oversight. Federal crop insurance subsidies alone "lavish farmers" with roughly $10 billion each year, creating a system where fraud and errors can flourish without adequate accountability mechanisms.
Congress should phase out farm subsidies entirely, and the ECP represents a good starting point for reform, the report concludes. With nearly half of every dollar in the program going to improper payments—whether through errors or fraud—the ECP exemplifies the scandal of rising farm subsidy costs. The combination of high payment caps, percentage-based reimbursement that favors wealthy operators, and a 45 percent waste rate makes this program an obvious target for elimination in an era when government efficiency is under scrutiny.