| Rank |
County |
Total USDA - Subsidies 2011 | Pct of Total | Running Percentage |
| 1 | Poinsett County, Arkansas | $24,670,962 | 5.8% | 5.8% |
| 2 | Mississippi County, Arkansas | $22,781,860 | 5.4% | 11.2% |
| 3 | Cross County, Arkansas | $20,564,292 | 4.9% | 16.1% |
| 4 | Jackson County, Arkansas | $20,140,280 | 4.8% | 20.9% |
| 5 | Phillips County, Arkansas | $19,747,472 | 4.7% | 25.6% |
| 6 | Arkansas County, Arkansas | $19,028,000 | 4.5% | 30.1% |
| 7 | Craighead County, Arkansas | $17,768,187 | 4.2% | 34.3% |
| 8 | Chicot County, Arkansas | $16,922,780 | 4.0% | 38.3% |
| 9 | Crittenden County, Arkansas | $16,316,630 | 3.9% | 42.1% |
| 10 | Clay County, Arkansas | $16,202,601 | 3.8% | 46.0% |
| 11 | Lonoke County, Arkansas | $16,059,883 | 3.8% | 49.8% |
| 12 | Lawrence County, Arkansas | $14,902,153 | 3.5% | 53.3% |
| 13 | Jefferson County, Arkansas | $14,874,916 | 3.5% | 56.8% |
| 14 | Lee County, Arkansas | $14,297,878 | 3.4% | 60.2% |
| 15 | Desha County, Arkansas | $14,003,452 | 3.3% | 63.5% |
| 16 | Saint Francis County, Arkansas | $13,913,853 | 3.3% | 66.8% |
| 17 | Woodruff County, Arkansas | $13,634,621 | 3.2% | 70.1% |
| 18 | Monroe County, Arkansas | $13,045,892 | 3.1% | 73.1% |
| 19 | Greene County, Arkansas | $12,850,427 | 3.0% | 76.2% |
| 20 | Prairie County, Arkansas | $12,547,884 | 3.0% | 79.2% |
| 21 | Ashley County, Arkansas | $10,322,616 | 2.4% | 81.6% |
| 22 | Lincoln County, Arkansas | $8,680,692 | 2.1% | 83.7% |
| 23 | White County, Arkansas | $6,673,244 | 1.6% | 85.2% |
| 24 | Miller County, Arkansas | $6,487,790 | 1.5% | 86.8% |
| 25 | Randolph County, Arkansas | $5,722,280 | 1.4% | 88.1% |
| 26 | Drew County, Arkansas | $4,858,500 | 1.2% | 89.3% |
| 27 | Lafayette County, Arkansas | $4,014,919 | 1.0% | 90.2% |
| 28 | Independence County, Arkansas | $3,959,915 | 0.9% | 91.2% |
| 29 | Boone County, Arkansas | $3,746,271 | 0.9% | 92.1% |
| 30 | Little River County, Arkansas | $2,775,406 | 0.7% | 92.7% |
| 31 | Pulaski County, Arkansas | $2,020,232 | 0.5% | 93.2% |
| 32 | Carroll County, Arkansas | $1,985,379 | 0.5% | 93.7% |
| 33 | Hempstead County, Arkansas | $1,804,945 | 0.4% | 94.1% |
| 34 | Fulton County, Arkansas | $1,733,786 | 0.4% | 94.5% |
| 35 | Madison County, Arkansas | $1,591,288 | 0.4% | 94.9% |
| 36 | Izard County, Arkansas | $1,524,816 | 0.4% | 95.2% |
| 37 | Sharp County, Arkansas | $1,360,779 | 0.3% | 95.6% |
| 38 | Conway County, Arkansas | $1,229,993 | 0.3% | 95.8% |
| 39 | Washington County, Arkansas | $1,191,727 | 0.3% | 96.1% |
| 40 | Faulkner County, Arkansas | $1,158,851 | 0.3% | 96.4% |
| 41 | Clark County, Arkansas | $1,115,306 | 0.3% | 96.7% |
| 42 | Yell County, Arkansas | $1,017,719 | 0.2% | 96.9% |
| 43 | Searcy County, Arkansas | $972,136 | 0.2% | 97.1% |
| 44 | Stone County, Arkansas | $952,980 | 0.2% | 97.4% |
| 45 | Newton County, Arkansas | $904,342 | 0.2% | 97.6% |
| 46 | Marion County, Arkansas | $795,092 | 0.2% | 97.8% |
| 47 | Crawford County, Arkansas | $737,375 | 0.2% | 97.9% |
| 48 | Cleburne County, Arkansas | $730,816 | 0.2% | 98.1% |
| 49 | Bradley County, Arkansas | $682,260 | 0.2% | 98.3% |
| 50 | Pope County, Arkansas | $652,160 | 0.2% | 98.4% |
| 51 | Hot Spring County, Arkansas | $617,570 | 0.1% | 98.6% |
| 52 | Nevada County, Arkansas | $574,492 | 0.1% | 98.7% |
| 53 | Benton County, Arkansas | $574,359 | 0.1% | 98.9% |
| 54 | Sevier County, Arkansas | $515,692 | 0.1% | 99.0% |
| 55 | Polk County, Arkansas | $499,377 | 0.1% | 99.1% |
| 56 | Perry County, Arkansas | $485,796 | 0.1% | 99.2% |
| 57 | Baxter County, Arkansas | $473,811 | 0.1% | 99.3% |
| 58 | Sebastian County, Arkansas | $431,071 | 0.1% | 99.4% |
| 59 | Howard County, Arkansas | $345,736 | 0.1% | 99.5% |
| 60 | Logan County, Arkansas | $312,235 | 0.1% | 99.6% |
| 61 | Van Buren County, Arkansas | $279,939 | 0.1% | 99.6% |
| 62 | Franklin County, Arkansas | $254,618 | 0.1% | 99.7% |
| 63 | Montgomery County, Arkansas | $252,221 | 0.1% | 99.8% |
| 64 | Johnson County, Arkansas | $247,535 | 0.1% | 99.8% |
| 65 | Pike County, Arkansas | $215,469 | 0.1% | 99.9% |
| 66 | Columbia County, Arkansas | $193,200 | 0.0% | 99.9% |
| 67 | Scott County, Arkansas | $104,247 | 0.0% | 99.9% |
| 68 | Ouachita County, Arkansas | $55,038 | 0.0% | 100.0% |
| 69 | Union County, Arkansas | $50,299 | 0.0% | 100.0% |
| 70 | Dallas County, Arkansas | $46,743 | 0.0% | 100.0% |
| 71 | Calhoun County, Arkansas | $31,784 | 0.0% | 100.0% |
| 72 | Cleveland County, Arkansas | $31,003 | 0.0% | 100.0% |
| 73 | Garland County, Arkansas | $16,667 | 0.0% | 100.0% |
| 74 | Saline County, Arkansas | $6,510 | 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.