| Rank |
County |
Conservation Reserve Program
1995-2011 | Pct of
Total | Running
Percentage |
| 1 | Wayne County, Illinois | $59,899,490 | 3.5% | 3.5% |
| 2 | Pike County, Illinois | $51,673,767 | 3.0% | 6.6% |
| 3 | Jo Daviess County, Illinois | $42,270,622 | 2.5% | 9.1% |
| 4 | Marion County, Illinois | $41,978,459 | 2.5% | 11.5% |
| 5 | Hamilton County, Illinois | $39,648,119 | 2.3% | 13.9% |
| 6 | Iroquois County, Illinois | $39,380,283 | 2.3% | 16.2% |
| 7 | Henry County, Illinois | $36,908,481 | 2.2% | 18.4% |
| 8 | Jefferson County, Illinois | $35,511,378 | 2.1% | 20.4% |
| 9 | Hancock County, Illinois | $33,361,065 | 2.0% | 22.4% |
| 10 | Mercer County, Illinois | $31,349,076 | 1.8% | 24.3% |
| 11 | Schuyler County, Illinois | $31,175,117 | 1.8% | 26.1% |
| 12 | Franklin County, Illinois | $29,195,551 | 1.7% | 27.8% |
| 13 | Whiteside County, Illinois | $28,684,880 | 1.7% | 29.5% |
| 14 | Knox County, Illinois | $26,883,498 | 1.6% | 31.1% |
| 15 | McLean County, Illinois | $26,747,460 | 1.6% | 32.6% |
| 16 | Sangamon County, Illinois | $25,517,148 | 1.5% | 34.2% |
| 17 | Champaign County, Illinois | $25,325,867 | 1.5% | 35.6% |
| 18 | Adams County, Illinois | $25,260,011 | 1.5% | 37.1% |
| 19 | Shelby County, Illinois | $25,101,297 | 1.5% | 38.6% |
| 20 | Fayette County, Illinois | $24,883,476 | 1.5% | 40.1% |
| 21 | Livingston County, Illinois | $24,832,007 | 1.5% | 41.5% |
| 22 | Union County, Illinois | $24,300,960 | 1.4% | 43.0% |
| 23 | Logan County, Illinois | $24,061,023 | 1.4% | 44.4% |
| 24 | Cass County, Illinois | $23,670,790 | 1.4% | 45.8% |
| 25 | Clay County, Illinois | $23,441,665 | 1.4% | 47.2% |
| 26 | Macoupin County, Illinois | $23,363,384 | 1.4% | 48.5% |
| 27 | Montgomery County, Illinois | $22,471,654 | 1.3% | 49.9% |
| 28 | Greene County, Illinois | $22,221,067 | 1.3% | 51.2% |
| 29 | Bureau County, Illinois | $22,156,526 | 1.3% | 52.5% |
| 30 | Ogle County, Illinois | $21,736,606 | 1.3% | 53.7% |
| 31 | Brown County, Illinois | $21,187,465 | 1.2% | 55.0% |
| 32 | Crawford County, Illinois | $20,858,893 | 1.2% | 56.2% |
| 33 | Effingham County, Illinois | $20,785,556 | 1.2% | 57.4% |
| 34 | La Salle County, Illinois | $20,242,087 | 1.2% | 58.6% |
| 35 | Johnson County, Illinois | $19,995,828 | 1.2% | 59.8% |
| 36 | Carroll County, Illinois | $19,693,583 | 1.2% | 61.0% |
| 37 | Vermilion County, Illinois | $19,539,930 | 1.2% | 62.1% |
| 38 | White County, Illinois | $19,098,131 | 1.1% | 63.2% |
| 39 | Stephenson County, Illinois | $18,955,196 | 1.1% | 64.4% |
| 40 | Jasper County, Illinois | $18,213,779 | 1.1% | 65.4% |
| 41 | Tazewell County, Illinois | $18,018,853 | 1.1% | 66.5% |
| 42 | Bond County, Illinois | $17,785,512 | 1.0% | 67.5% |
| 43 | Fulton County, Illinois | $17,360,478 | 1.0% | 68.6% |
| 44 | Mason County, Illinois | $17,273,918 | 1.0% | 69.6% |
| 45 | Christian County, Illinois | $17,157,818 | 1.0% | 70.6% |
| 46 | Cumberland County, Illinois | $16,503,132 | 1.0% | 71.6% |
| 47 | Jackson County, Illinois | $15,408,684 | 0.9% | 72.5% |
| 48 | Rock Island County, Illinois | $14,716,873 | 0.9% | 73.3% |
| 49 | Winnebago County, Illinois | $14,654,089 | 0.9% | 74.2% |
| 50 | Ford County, Illinois | $14,626,044 | 0.9% | 75.1% |
| 51 | Menard County, Illinois | $14,243,364 | 0.8% | 75.9% |
| 52 | McDonough County, Illinois | $14,174,729 | 0.8% | 76.7% |
| 53 | Calhoun County, Illinois | $14,136,577 | 0.8% | 77.6% |
| 54 | Clark County, Illinois | $13,757,307 | 0.8% | 78.4% |
| 55 | Morgan County, Illinois | $13,735,783 | 0.8% | 79.2% |
| 56 | Richland County, Illinois | $13,426,700 | 0.8% | 80.0% |
| 57 | Massac County, Illinois | $13,294,753 | 0.8% | 80.8% |
| 58 | Woodford County, Illinois | $12,757,191 | 0.8% | 81.5% |
| 59 | Edgar County, Illinois | $12,673,015 | 0.7% | 82.2% |
| 60 | Randolph County, Illinois | $12,278,164 | 0.7% | 83.0% |
| 61 | Williamson County, Illinois | $12,135,214 | 0.7% | 83.7% |
| 62 | Saline County, Illinois | $11,753,288 | 0.7% | 84.4% |
| 63 | Pulaski County, Illinois | $11,361,838 | 0.7% | 85.0% |
| 64 | Lawrence County, Illinois | $11,356,615 | 0.7% | 85.7% |
| 65 | Douglas County, Illinois | $11,237,832 | 0.7% | 86.4% |
| 66 | Pope County, Illinois | $11,186,933 | 0.7% | 87.0% |
| 67 | Coles County, Illinois | $11,155,635 | 0.7% | 87.7% |
| 68 | Clinton County, Illinois | $10,621,253 | 0.6% | 88.3% |
| 69 | Edwards County, Illinois | $10,506,747 | 0.6% | 88.9% |
| 70 | DeKalb County, Illinois | $10,334,353 | 0.6% | 89.5% |
| 71 | Jersey County, Illinois | $10,118,855 | 0.6% | 90.1% |
| 72 | Perry County, Illinois | $10,046,847 | 0.6% | 90.7% |
| 73 | Lee County, Illinois | $9,726,998 | 0.6% | 91.3% |
| 74 | Washington County, Illinois | $9,635,371 | 0.6% | 91.9% |
| 75 | Scott County, Illinois | $9,533,795 | 0.6% | 92.4% |
| 76 | Stark County, Illinois | $8,351,540 | 0.5% | 92.9% |
| 77 | De Witt County, Illinois | $8,086,238 | 0.5% | 93.4% |
| 78 | Macon County, Illinois | $8,085,770 | 0.5% | 93.9% |
| 79 | Peoria County, Illinois | $8,051,630 | 0.5% | 94.3% |
| 80 | Warren County, Illinois | $7,297,113 | 0.4% | 94.8% |
| 81 | Gallatin County, Illinois | $7,080,260 | 0.4% | 95.2% |
| 82 | Monroe County, Illinois | $6,811,675 | 0.4% | 95.6% |
| 83 | Piatt County, Illinois | $6,589,323 | 0.4% | 96.0% |
| 84 | Henderson County, Illinois | $6,511,322 | 0.4% | 96.4% |
| 85 | Putnam County, Illinois | $6,480,404 | 0.4% | 96.7% |
| 86 | Wabash County, Illinois | $6,393,468 | 0.4% | 97.1% |
| 87 | Saint Clair County, Illinois | $5,932,258 | 0.3% | 97.5% |
| 88 | Madison County, Illinois | $5,925,171 | 0.3% | 97.8% |
| 89 | Kankakee County, Illinois | $5,371,994 | 0.3% | 98.1% |
| 90 | Moultrie County, Illinois | $5,248,548 | 0.3% | 98.4% |
| 91 | Marshall County, Illinois | $4,813,931 | 0.3% | 98.7% |
| 92 | Grundy County, Illinois | $4,047,795 | 0.2% | 99.0% |
| 93 | Alexander County, Illinois | $3,823,098 | 0.2% | 99.2% |
| 94 | Boone County, Illinois | $3,309,991 | 0.2% | 99.4% |
| 95 | Hardin County, Illinois | $3,206,114 | 0.2% | 99.6% |
| 96 | McHenry County, Illinois | $2,955,311 | 0.2% | 99.8% |
| 97 | Will County, Illinois | $2,728,426 | 0.2% | 99.9% |
| 98 | Kendall County, Illinois | $1,190,464 | 0.1% | 100.0% |
| 99 | Kane County, Illinois | $276,962 | 0.0% | 100.0% |
| 100 | Lake County, Illinois | $20,076 | 0.0% | 100.0% |
Source: Environmental Working Group. Compiled from USDA data.
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.
