Conservation payments in the United States totaled $37.0 billion from 1995-2011.
From 1995 to 2011, the top 10 percent of conservation payment recipients were paid 61 percent of conservation payments.
| Pct. of Recipients | Pct. of Payments | Number of Recipients | Total Payments 1995-2011 | Payment per Recipient |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Top 1% | 19% | 13,456 | $7,027,729,804 | $522,275 |
| Top 2% | 28% | 26,913 | $10,476,254,291 | $389,264 |
| Top 3% | 35% | 40,369 | $13,007,233,429 | $322,208 |
| Top 4% | 41% | 53,826 | $15,041,437,620 | $279,446 |
| Top 5% | 45% | 67,282 | $16,750,282,189 | $248,956 |
| Top 6% | 49% | 80,739 | $18,221,119,988 | $225,679 |
| Top 7% | 53% | 94,196 | $19,512,675,436 | $207,150 |
| Top 8% | 56% | 107,652 | $20,661,647,265 | $191,930 |
| Top 9% | 59% | 121,109 | $21,693,405,706 | $179,123 |
| Top 10% | 61% | 134,565 | $22,628,749,754 | $168,162 |
| Top 11% | 63% | 148,022 | $23,481,690,156 | $158,636 |
| Top 12% | 66% | 161,478 | $24,263,276,020 | $150,257 |
| Top 13% | 68% | 174,935 | $24,982,437,258 | $142,810 |
| Top 14% | 69% | 188,392 | $25,648,142,120 | $136,142 |
| Top 15% | 71% | 201,848 | $26,266,122,250 | $130,128 |
| Top 16% | 73% | 215,305 | $26,840,949,058 | $124,665 |
| Top 17% | 74% | 228,761 | $27,377,273,606 | $119,676 |
| Top 18% | 75% | 242,218 | $27,878,795,021 | $115,098 |
| Top 19% | 77% | 255,675 | $28,349,396,013 | $110,881 |
| Top 20% | 78% | 269,131 | $28,791,731,260 | $106,980 |
| Remaining 80% of recips. | 22% | 1,076,527 | $8,219,858,783 | $7,636 |
Note: The information on conservation spending for 2011 is incomplete due to missing data from USDA's Natural Resource Conservation Service. In addition some payments made in 2010 were not assigned to recipients in the data received from NRCS. Those payments are also not included.
The information provided for the Wetland Reserve Program (WRP) provides an inaccurate picture of how WRP payments are distributed. USDA's Natural Resource Conservation Service uses title companies as intermediaries to finalize wetlands easements under the Wetlands Reserve Program. As a result, the data provided to us shows large sums of money going to these title companies. In reality, the payments are ultimately distributed to landowners participating in the WRP.
Unfortunately, NRCS has not provided the data to show where these farms and wetlands are located or which farmers or landowners are enrolling in the program, so EWG is unable to allocate these large sums of money to individuals beyond the title companies. Therefore, these companies skew the conservation rankings and payment concentration, which EWG cannot avoid unless and until NRCS makes available the additional farm attribution data. Therefore, we have not included WRP payments in the 2011 data update.
We have separated data on farm commodity, disaster and conservation payments in order to provide a more accurate picture of top recipients and concentration of payments among the three main categories of USDA programs.
Finally, EWG works hard to ensure the accuracy of the information it provides through its products and services, but obtains data for the Farm Subsidy Database from the U.S. Department of Agriculture pursuant to the Freedom of Information Act. Therefore, EWG cannot guarantee the accuracy of the information USDA provides or any analysis based thereon. If you find an error or discrepancy on the site, please contact your local USDA Farm Service Agency office to check its records before contacting EWG.
