Summary: Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO provided information on the Department of Agriculture's (USDA): (1) inventory of dairy products; and (2) distribution of those products through various sales and donations programs.
GAO found that USDA: (1) dairy product purchases declined from 14 billion pounds in 1982 to 5 billion pounds in 1987 and were projected at 7 billion pounds for 1988; (2) dairy product inventories declined from 1.2 billion pounds in 1982 to 993 million pounds in 1987 and were projected at 558 million pounds for 1988; and (3) year-end uncommitted inventories for Temporary Emergency Food Assistance Program (TEFAP) distributions declined between 1982 and 1987, and were projected to be zero at the end of 1988. GAO also found that USDA: (1) increased total dairy product distributions under its sales and donations programs between 1982 and 1987, but projected a decline in 1988; (2) projected that all dairy product donations under TEFAP would end after April 1988; and (3) projected that it would continue its export sales of dairy products and its donations under its major distribution programs in 1988.
