| Rank |
County |
Conservation Reserve Program
1995-2012 | Pct of
Total | Running
Percentage |
| 1 | White County, Arkansas | $22,305,676 | 10.1% | 10.1% |
| 2 | Jefferson County, Arkansas | $18,883,176 | 8.6% | 18.7% |
| 3 | Prairie County, Arkansas | $15,415,124 | 7.0% | 25.7% |
| 4 | Lonoke County, Arkansas | $13,121,070 | 6.0% | 31.6% |
| 5 | Chicot County, Arkansas | $11,268,355 | 5.1% | 36.7% |
| 6 | Arkansas County, Arkansas | $11,066,145 | 5.0% | 41.8% |
| 7 | Jackson County, Arkansas | $8,729,107 | 4.0% | 45.7% |
| 8 | Crittenden County, Arkansas | $7,680,423 | 3.5% | 49.2% |
| 9 | Cross County, Arkansas | $7,586,535 | 3.4% | 52.6% |
| 10 | Ashley County, Arkansas | $7,460,402 | 3.4% | 56.0% |
| 11 | Lincoln County, Arkansas | $7,034,709 | 3.2% | 59.2% |
| 12 | Clay County, Arkansas | $6,922,065 | 3.1% | 62.4% |
| 13 | Woodruff County, Arkansas | $6,798,230 | 3.1% | 65.5% |
| 14 | Desha County, Arkansas | $6,629,162 | 3.0% | 68.5% |
| 15 | Drew County, Arkansas | $5,702,699 | 2.6% | 71.0% |
| 16 | Saint Francis County, Arkansas | $4,806,032 | 2.2% | 73.2% |
| 17 | Faulkner County, Arkansas | $4,626,404 | 2.1% | 75.3% |
| 18 | Greene County, Arkansas | $4,370,784 | 2.0% | 77.3% |
| 19 | Hempstead County, Arkansas | $4,008,034 | 1.8% | 79.1% |
| 20 | Yell County, Arkansas | $3,714,268 | 1.7% | 80.8% |
| 21 | Independence County, Arkansas | $3,549,426 | 1.6% | 82.4% |
| 22 | Poinsett County, Arkansas | $3,479,271 | 1.6% | 84.0% |
| 23 | Clark County, Arkansas | $3,031,376 | 1.4% | 85.4% |
| 24 | Phillips County, Arkansas | $2,954,496 | 1.3% | 86.7% |
| 25 | Monroe County, Arkansas | $2,848,307 | 1.3% | 88.0% |
| 26 | Pulaski County, Arkansas | $2,542,561 | 1.2% | 89.2% |
| 27 | Miller County, Arkansas | $2,379,159 | 1.1% | 90.2% |
| 28 | Lawrence County, Arkansas | $2,230,276 | 1.0% | 91.3% |
| 29 | Lee County, Arkansas | $2,160,773 | 1.0% | 92.2% |
| 30 | Craighead County, Arkansas | $2,131,241 | 1.0% | 93.2% |
| 31 | Mississippi County, Arkansas | $1,774,813 | 0.8% | 94.0% |
| 32 | Conway County, Arkansas | $1,602,576 | 0.7% | 94.7% |
| 33 | Pope County, Arkansas | $1,330,455 | 0.6% | 95.3% |
| 34 | Nevada County, Arkansas | $1,258,804 | 0.6% | 95.9% |
| 35 | Perry County, Arkansas | $1,247,262 | 0.6% | 96.5% |
| 36 | Little River County, Arkansas | $910,729 | 0.4% | 96.9% |
| 37 | Dallas County, Arkansas | $722,155 | 0.3% | 97.2% |
| 38 | Cleburne County, Arkansas | $625,236 | 0.3% | 97.5% |
| 39 | Randolph County, Arkansas | $527,737 | 0.2% | 97.7% |
| 40 | Pike County, Arkansas | $481,571 | 0.2% | 98.0% |
| 41 | Hot Spring County, Arkansas | $435,568 | 0.2% | 98.2% |
| 42 | Crawford County, Arkansas | $407,803 | 0.2% | 98.3% |
| 43 | Calhoun County, Arkansas | $394,737 | 0.2% | 98.5% |
| 44 | Saline County, Arkansas | $276,597 | 0.1% | 98.6% |
| 45 | Sharp County, Arkansas | $271,170 | 0.1% | 98.8% |
| 46 | Cleveland County, Arkansas | $262,520 | 0.1% | 98.9% |
| 47 | Ouachita County, Arkansas | $248,498 | 0.1% | 99.0% |
| 48 | Logan County, Arkansas | $244,338 | 0.1% | 99.1% |
| 49 | Boone County, Arkansas | $242,234 | 0.1% | 99.2% |
| 50 | Madison County, Arkansas | $241,083 | 0.1% | 99.3% |
| 51 | Lafayette County, Arkansas | $238,437 | 0.1% | 99.4% |
| 52 | Franklin County, Arkansas | $229,083 | 0.1% | 99.5% |
| 53 | Sevier County, Arkansas | $193,168 | 0.1% | 99.6% |
| 54 | Bradley County, Arkansas | $184,507 | 0.1% | 99.7% |
| 55 | Howard County, Arkansas | $122,173 | 0.1% | 99.8% |
| 56 | Izard County, Arkansas | $109,301 | 0.0% | 99.8% |
| 57 | Washington County, Arkansas | $77,880 | 0.0% | 99.8% |
| 58 | Fulton County, Arkansas | $50,347 | 0.0% | 99.9% |
| 59 | Montgomery County, Arkansas | $48,088 | 0.0% | 99.9% |
| 60 | Benton County, Arkansas | $47,956 | 0.0% | 99.9% |
| 61 | Sebastian County, Arkansas | $37,145 | 0.0% | 99.9% |
| 62 | Johnson County, Arkansas | $32,934 | 0.0% | 99.9% |
| 63 | Columbia County, Arkansas | $19,024 | 0.0% | 100.0% |
| 64 | Garland County, Arkansas | $15,014 | 0.0% | 100.0% |
| 65 | Van Buren County, Arkansas | $5,246 | 0.0% | 100.0% |
Source: Environmental Working Group. Compiled from USDA data.
Note: The information on conservation spending for 2011and 2012 are 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 or 2012 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.
