| Rank |
County |
Subtotal, Conservation Programs
1995-2012 | Pct of
Total | Running
Percentage |
| 1 | Illinois NRCS | $106,212,792 | 5.3% | 5.3% |
| 2 | Wayne County, Illinois | $63,878,501 | 3.2% | 8.5% |
| 3 | Pike County, Illinois | $55,877,354 | 2.8% | 11.3% |
| 4 | Marion County, Illinois | $45,012,584 | 2.3% | 13.6% |
| 5 | Jo Daviess County, Illinois | $44,481,306 | 2.2% | 15.8% |
| 6 | Iroquois County, Illinois | $43,719,608 | 2.2% | 18.0% |
| 7 | Hamilton County, Illinois | $42,258,773 | 2.1% | 20.1% |
| 8 | Henry County, Illinois | $40,682,418 | 2.0% | 22.2% |
| 9 | Jefferson County, Illinois | $37,632,793 | 1.9% | 24.1% |
| 10 | Hancock County, Illinois | $36,937,408 | 1.9% | 25.9% |
| 11 | Mercer County, Illinois | $34,638,494 | 1.7% | 27.6% |
| 12 | Schuyler County, Illinois | $34,096,852 | 1.7% | 29.3% |
| 13 | Whiteside County, Illinois | $31,761,027 | 1.6% | 30.9% |
| 14 | Franklin County, Illinois | $30,671,159 | 1.5% | 32.5% |
| 15 | Knox County, Illinois | $29,922,739 | 1.5% | 34.0% |
| 16 | McLean County, Illinois | $29,558,582 | 1.5% | 35.5% |
| 17 | Sangamon County, Illinois | $28,769,485 | 1.4% | 36.9% |
| 18 | Adams County, Illinois | $28,412,511 | 1.4% | 38.3% |
| 19 | Shelby County, Illinois | $28,083,693 | 1.4% | 39.7% |
| 20 | Champaign County, Illinois | $27,995,848 | 1.4% | 41.1% |
| 21 | Livingston County, Illinois | $27,522,305 | 1.4% | 42.5% |
| 22 | Fayette County, Illinois | $27,321,114 | 1.4% | 43.9% |
| 23 | Union County, Illinois | $27,022,915 | 1.4% | 45.2% |
| 24 | Logan County, Illinois | $26,910,363 | 1.3% | 46.6% |
| 25 | Macoupin County, Illinois | $26,679,902 | 1.3% | 47.9% |
| 26 | Cass County, Illinois | $26,361,606 | 1.3% | 49.3% |
| 27 | Montgomery County, Illinois | $26,017,554 | 1.3% | 50.6% |
| 28 | Clay County, Illinois | $25,402,174 | 1.3% | 51.8% |
| 29 | Greene County, Illinois | $24,915,336 | 1.2% | 53.1% |
| 30 | Bureau County, Illinois | $24,699,689 | 1.2% | 54.3% |
| 31 | Brown County, Illinois | $24,264,862 | 1.2% | 55.5% |
| 32 | Ogle County, Illinois | $24,176,245 | 1.2% | 56.7% |
| 33 | Crawford County, Illinois | $23,590,184 | 1.2% | 57.9% |
| 34 | Effingham County, Illinois | $23,354,013 | 1.2% | 59.1% |
| 35 | La Salle County, Illinois | $22,551,362 | 1.1% | 60.2% |
| 36 | Johnson County, Illinois | $22,165,043 | 1.1% | 61.3% |
| 37 | Vermilion County, Illinois | $21,734,513 | 1.1% | 62.4% |
| 38 | Carroll County, Illinois | $21,549,160 | 1.1% | 63.5% |
| 39 | Stephenson County, Illinois | $21,403,081 | 1.1% | 64.6% |
| 40 | Jasper County, Illinois | $21,087,548 | 1.1% | 65.6% |
| 41 | White County, Illinois | $20,802,198 | 1.0% | 66.7% |
| 42 | Tazewell County, Illinois | $20,438,201 | 1.0% | 67.7% |
| 43 | Mason County, Illinois | $19,681,801 | 1.0% | 68.7% |
| 44 | Christian County, Illinois | $19,401,611 | 1.0% | 69.7% |
| 45 | Fulton County, Illinois | $19,269,231 | 1.0% | 70.6% |
| 46 | Bond County, Illinois | $19,104,142 | 1.0% | 71.6% |
| 47 | Cumberland County, Illinois | $19,070,413 | 1.0% | 72.5% |
| 48 | Jackson County, Illinois | $16,479,094 | 0.8% | 73.4% |
| 49 | Ford County, Illinois | $16,233,078 | 0.8% | 74.2% |
| 50 | Winnebago County, Illinois | $16,181,270 | 0.8% | 75.0% |
| 51 | Rock Island County, Illinois | $16,000,894 | 0.8% | 75.8% |
| 52 | McDonough County, Illinois | $15,848,265 | 0.8% | 76.6% |
| 53 | Menard County, Illinois | $15,800,801 | 0.8% | 77.4% |
| 54 | Morgan County, Illinois | $15,726,354 | 0.8% | 78.2% |
| 55 | Clark County, Illinois | $15,668,795 | 0.8% | 79.0% |
| 56 | Lawrence County, Illinois | $15,499,114 | 0.8% | 79.7% |
| 57 | Calhoun County, Illinois | $15,446,092 | 0.8% | 80.5% |
| 58 | Richland County, Illinois | $14,929,426 | 0.7% | 81.3% |
| 59 | Edgar County, Illinois | $14,474,975 | 0.7% | 82.0% |
| 60 | Massac County, Illinois | $14,350,143 | 0.7% | 82.7% |
| 61 | Woodford County, Illinois | $14,196,040 | 0.7% | 83.4% |
| 62 | DeKalb County, Illinois | $13,774,368 | 0.7% | 84.1% |
| 63 | Randolph County, Illinois | $13,652,312 | 0.7% | 84.8% |
| 64 | Coles County, Illinois | $12,828,186 | 0.6% | 85.4% |
| 65 | Williamson County, Illinois | $12,758,043 | 0.6% | 86.1% |
| 66 | Saline County, Illinois | $12,648,591 | 0.6% | 86.7% |
| 67 | Pulaski County, Illinois | $12,598,326 | 0.6% | 87.3% |
| 68 | Clinton County, Illinois | $12,548,145 | 0.6% | 88.0% |
| 69 | Douglas County, Illinois | $12,499,232 | 0.6% | 88.6% |
| 70 | Pope County, Illinois | $12,193,145 | 0.6% | 89.2% |
| 71 | Edwards County, Illinois | $11,269,742 | 0.6% | 89.8% |
| 72 | Jersey County, Illinois | $11,195,690 | 0.6% | 90.3% |
| 73 | Lee County, Illinois | $10,950,308 | 0.5% | 90.9% |
| 74 | Washington County, Illinois | $10,733,843 | 0.5% | 91.4% |
| 75 | Perry County, Illinois | $10,671,740 | 0.5% | 92.0% |
| 76 | Scott County, Illinois | $10,661,443 | 0.5% | 92.5% |
| 77 | Stark County, Illinois | $9,564,921 | 0.5% | 93.0% |
| 78 | De Witt County, Illinois | $9,378,859 | 0.5% | 93.4% |
| 79 | Macon County, Illinois | $9,308,445 | 0.5% | 93.9% |
| 80 | Peoria County, Illinois | $9,186,934 | 0.5% | 94.4% |
| 81 | Monroe County, Illinois | $8,447,893 | 0.4% | 94.8% |
| 82 | Warren County, Illinois | $8,248,581 | 0.4% | 95.2% |
| 83 | Henderson County, Illinois | $8,179,628 | 0.4% | 95.6% |
| 84 | Piatt County, Illinois | $7,755,474 | 0.4% | 96.0% |
| 85 | Wabash County, Illinois | $7,701,219 | 0.4% | 96.4% |
| 86 | Gallatin County, Illinois | $7,668,118 | 0.4% | 96.8% |
| 87 | Saint Clair County, Illinois | $7,132,315 | 0.4% | 97.1% |
| 88 | Putnam County, Illinois | $6,785,869 | 0.3% | 97.5% |
| 89 | Madison County, Illinois | $6,708,702 | 0.3% | 97.8% |
| 90 | Moultrie County, Illinois | $5,983,016 | 0.3% | 98.1% |
| 91 | Kankakee County, Illinois | $5,967,077 | 0.3% | 98.4% |
| 92 | Marshall County, Illinois | $5,658,011 | 0.3% | 98.7% |
| 93 | Boone County, Illinois | $4,871,514 | 0.2% | 98.9% |
| 94 | Alexander County, Illinois | $4,745,918 | 0.2% | 99.2% |
| 95 | Grundy County, Illinois | $4,447,362 | 0.2% | 99.4% |
| 96 | Hardin County, Illinois | $3,436,049 | 0.2% | 99.6% |
| 97 | McHenry County, Illinois | $3,387,074 | 0.2% | 99.7% |
| 98 | Will County, Illinois | $3,028,494 | 0.2% | 99.9% |
| 99 | Kendall County, Illinois | $1,322,770 | 0.1% | 100.0% |
| 100 | Kane County, Illinois | $783,365 | 0.0% | 100.0% |
| 101 | Lake County, Illinois | $38,643 | 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.
