Fiscal Year 2003: Performance Report U.S. Department of Agricultire Natural Resources Conservation Service

Home Browse Search

Performance Management and Quality Assurance " The Congress has placed great trust in NRCS to handle the massive farm bill investment. And they will expect greater accountability. We will have to work with our partners to document the accomplishments coming out of the Federal investment. That will require better planning, budgeting, and reporting, both within NRCS and Partner organizations. " — Chief Bruce Knight February 2003 Verification and Validation of FY 2003 Performance Data The data on performance included in this report are final and complete. Data submitted for each state are certified to be accurate by the NRCS State Conservationist. The data are considered reliable for use in monitoring progress toward goals and in demonstrating use of program funds. Improvements to be implemented in FY 2004 are designed to further improve data quality while reduc- ing the reporting burden for field -level employees. For FY 2003, performance data were reported by NRCS staff at the field level through the Performance and Results Measurement System (PRMS), a compo- nent of NRCS's Integrated Accountability System. The accountability system includes data to enable agency managers to estimate the effect of programs on the condition of natural resources systems, assess the cost - effectiveness of service delivery, identify opportunities for busi- ness process improvement, and respond to customers' needs with strategies and assis- tance tailored to local conditions. Performance data are collected for key measures that are appropriate indicators of annual progress toward strategic goals. These indicators are conservation prac- tices and systems that are defined in NRCS field office technical guides. Field offices report their accomplishments for each measure on a regular basis. The reporting system is a user - friendly, web - based application. A variety of internal controls were in place in FY 2003 to ensure data quality, including: • On -line definitions and help screens for all performance data collection items. • Built -in data controls to minimize incorrect entries and to perform data validation checks after the data are entered. • Continuous monitoring by PRMS coordinators in all states, the six regional offices, and the national office. 36 Fiscal Year 2003 Performance Report • Regular weekly, monthly, and quarterly performance assessments to agency managers. • Periodic reviews and quality assurance activities, including reviews by the national oversight and evaluation staff and by State office staff. • Individual employee accountability for individual data entry. Every data item entered can be tracked to the individual employee who entered the data. Performance Planning for FY 2004 For FY 2004, NRCS is making extensive changes in both its performance reporting system and its performance measures. When fully implemented, these changes will result in higher quality data that bet- ter document the benefits produced by agency programs. The new systems are being implemented in phases. The new reporting system will draw most of its data from other management information systems. Data about applica- tion of conservation practices will be extracted automatically from the conser- vation planning software used in the field offices and from the contracts manage- ment software used to record contracts and payments for the Farm Bill financial assistance transactions. This new system is designed to provide much more detailed data than were available before, and data will be of higher quality. The new system will also reduce the reporting burden on field staff. As part of the budget and performance integration exercise, conducted to develop the President's budget for FY 2005, NRCS has identified new performance measures for its programs. These new measures focus more directly on the effect that agency services have on natural resources. For example, measures for reduction in the potential delivery of nitrogen and phosphorus from agricul- tural operations will replace measures for the extent of agricultural land where nutrient management practices were