| Rank |
County |
Subtotal, Conservation Programs
2011 | Pct of
Total | Running
Percentage |
| 1 | Wayne County, Illinois | $3,961,964 | 3.1% | 3.1% |
| 2 | Iroquois County, Illinois | $3,211,582 | 2.6% | 5.7% |
| 3 | Pike County, Illinois | $2,816,960 | 2.2% | 7.9% |
| 4 | Marion County, Illinois | $2,730,903 | 2.2% | 10.1% |
| 5 | Henry County, Illinois | $2,678,107 | 2.1% | 12.2% |
| 6 | Mercer County, Illinois | $2,550,396 | 2.0% | 14.3% |
| 7 | Sangamon County, Illinois | $2,418,544 | 1.9% | 16.2% |
| 8 | Whiteside County, Illinois | $2,354,550 | 1.9% | 18.1% |
| 9 | Hamilton County, Illinois | $2,331,243 | 1.9% | 19.9% |
| 10 | Logan County, Illinois | $2,271,509 | 1.8% | 21.7% |
| 11 | Hancock County, Illinois | $2,198,550 | 1.7% | 23.5% |
| 12 | Livingston County, Illinois | $2,157,355 | 1.7% | 25.2% |
| 13 | Knox County, Illinois | $2,140,306 | 1.7% | 26.9% |
| 14 | Bureau County, Illinois | $2,062,313 | 1.6% | 28.5% |
| 15 | Schuyler County, Illinois | $2,053,107 | 1.6% | 30.2% |
| 16 | Champaign County, Illinois | $2,025,442 | 1.6% | 31.8% |
| 17 | Tazewell County, Illinois | $1,932,509 | 1.5% | 33.3% |
| 18 | Jo Daviess County, Illinois | $1,917,784 | 1.5% | 34.8% |
| 19 | Montgomery County, Illinois | $1,839,746 | 1.5% | 36.3% |
| 20 | Effingham County, Illinois | $1,831,676 | 1.5% | 37.7% |
| 21 | Crawford County, Illinois | $1,828,014 | 1.5% | 39.2% |
| 22 | Macoupin County, Illinois | $1,823,522 | 1.4% | 40.6% |
| 23 | McLean County, Illinois | $1,813,910 | 1.4% | 42.1% |
| 24 | Clay County, Illinois | $1,795,654 | 1.4% | 43.5% |
| 25 | Stephenson County, Illinois | $1,790,985 | 1.4% | 44.9% |
| 26 | Jasper County, Illinois | $1,787,406 | 1.4% | 46.4% |
| 27 | Mason County, Illinois | $1,783,747 | 1.4% | 47.8% |
| 28 | Adams County, Illinois | $1,742,003 | 1.4% | 49.2% |
| 29 | Greene County, Illinois | $1,734,157 | 1.4% | 50.5% |
| 30 | La Salle County, Illinois | $1,734,151 | 1.4% | 51.9% |
| 31 | Fayette County, Illinois | $1,724,750 | 1.4% | 53.3% |
| 32 | Shelby County, Illinois | $1,717,098 | 1.4% | 54.6% |
| 33 | Jefferson County, Illinois | $1,707,216 | 1.4% | 56.0% |
| 34 | Cass County, Illinois | $1,702,900 | 1.4% | 57.4% |
| 35 | Fulton County, Illinois | $1,657,441 | 1.3% | 58.7% |
| 36 | Carroll County, Illinois | $1,632,908 | 1.3% | 60.0% |
| 37 | Brown County, Illinois | $1,620,248 | 1.3% | 61.3% |
| 38 | Cumberland County, Illinois | $1,541,943 | 1.2% | 62.5% |
| 39 | Christian County, Illinois | $1,471,278 | 1.2% | 63.7% |
| 40 | Franklin County, Illinois | $1,404,138 | 1.1% | 64.8% |
| 41 | White County, Illinois | $1,382,892 | 1.1% | 65.9% |
| 42 | Union County, Illinois | $1,378,825 | 1.1% | 67.0% |
| 43 | Winnebago County, Illinois | $1,355,516 | 1.1% | 68.0% |
| 44 | Vermilion County, Illinois | $1,310,651 | 1.0% | 69.1% |
| 45 | Menard County, Illinois | $1,288,026 | 1.0% | 70.1% |
| 46 | Johnson County, Illinois | $1,267,762 | 1.0% | 71.1% |
| 47 | Clark County, Illinois | $1,238,811 | 1.0% | 72.1% |
| 48 | Ogle County, Illinois | $1,211,528 | 1.0% | 73.1% |
| 49 | Morgan County, Illinois | $1,182,814 | 0.9% | 74.0% |
| 50 | Ford County, Illinois | $1,137,840 | 0.9% | 74.9% |
| 51 | McDonough County, Illinois | $1,125,283 | 0.9% | 75.8% |
| 52 | Richland County, Illinois | $1,102,314 | 0.9% | 76.7% |
| 53 | Calhoun County, Illinois | $1,085,828 | 0.9% | 77.5% |
| 54 | Lee County, Illinois | $1,066,427 | 0.8% | 78.4% |
| 55 | Bond County, Illinois | $1,053,454 | 0.8% | 79.2% |
| 56 | Woodford County, Illinois | $1,031,234 | 0.8% | 80.0% |
| 57 | Coles County, Illinois | $998,779 | 0.8% | 80.8% |
| 58 | Rock Island County, Illinois | $954,936 | 0.8% | 81.6% |
| 59 | DeKalb County, Illinois | $949,004 | 0.8% | 82.4% |
| 60 | Edgar County, Illinois | $932,026 | 0.7% | 83.1% |
| 61 | Douglas County, Illinois | $918,374 | 0.7% | 83.8% |
| 62 | Jackson County, Illinois | $917,316 | 0.7% | 84.6% |
| 63 | Stark County, Illinois | $907,639 | 0.7% | 85.3% |
| 64 | Saline County, Illinois | $887,057 | 0.7% | 86.0% |
| 65 | Massac County, Illinois | $870,326 | 0.7% | 86.7% |
| 66 | Putnam County, Illinois | $856,025 | 0.7% | 87.4% |
| 67 | De Witt County, Illinois | $798,318 | 0.6% | 88.0% |
| 68 | Clinton County, Illinois | $789,332 | 0.6% | 88.6% |
| 69 | Henderson County, Illinois | $776,019 | 0.6% | 89.2% |
| 70 | Randolph County, Illinois | $774,884 | 0.6% | 89.8% |
| 71 | Peoria County, Illinois | $760,773 | 0.6% | 90.5% |
| 72 | Jersey County, Illinois | $732,146 | 0.6% | 91.0% |
| 73 | Scott County, Illinois | $725,195 | 0.6% | 91.6% |
| 74 | Edwards County, Illinois | $722,508 | 0.6% | 92.2% |
| 75 | Macon County, Illinois | $685,103 | 0.5% | 92.7% |
| 76 | Pope County, Illinois | $662,614 | 0.5% | 93.3% |
| 77 | Williamson County, Illinois | $639,552 | 0.5% | 93.8% |
| 78 | Marshall County, Illinois | $616,919 | 0.5% | 94.3% |
| 79 | Washington County, Illinois | $592,136 | 0.5% | 94.7% |
| 80 | Warren County, Illinois | $576,107 | 0.5% | 95.2% |
| 81 | Piatt County, Illinois | $573,553 | 0.5% | 95.6% |
| 82 | Perry County, Illinois | $497,403 | 0.4% | 96.0% |
| 83 | Pulaski County, Illinois | $486,892 | 0.4% | 96.4% |
| 84 | Gallatin County, Illinois | $479,752 | 0.4% | 96.8% |
| 85 | Lawrence County, Illinois | $450,968 | 0.4% | 97.2% |
| 86 | Kankakee County, Illinois | $419,080 | 0.3% | 97.5% |
| 87 | Wabash County, Illinois | $414,691 | 0.3% | 97.8% |
| 88 | Moultrie County, Illinois | $393,724 | 0.3% | 98.1% |
| 89 | Grundy County, Illinois | $386,339 | 0.3% | 98.4% |
| 90 | Madison County, Illinois | $358,794 | 0.3% | 98.7% |
| 91 | Monroe County, Illinois | $335,438 | 0.3% | 99.0% |
| 92 | Saint Clair County, Illinois | $308,925 | 0.2% | 99.2% |
| 93 | Alexander County, Illinois | $214,654 | 0.2% | 99.4% |
| 94 | Hardin County, Illinois | $211,463 | 0.2% | 99.6% |
| 95 | Boone County, Illinois | $158,292 | 0.1% | 99.7% |
| 96 | Will County, Illinois | $148,555 | 0.1% | 99.8% |
| 97 | McHenry County, Illinois | $139,227 | 0.1% | 99.9% |
| 98 | Kendall County, Illinois | $74,985 | 0.1% | 100.0% |
| 99 | Kane County, Illinois | $8,891 | 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.
