| Rank |
County |
Subtotal, Conservation Programs
1995-2011 | Pct of
Total | Running
Percentage |
| 1 | Illinois NRCS | $106,212,792 | 5.7% | 5.7% |
| 2 | Wayne County, Illinois | $60,068,602 | 3.2% | 8.9% |
| 3 | Pike County, Illinois | $52,860,366 | 2.8% | 11.8% |
| 4 | Jo Daviess County, Illinois | $42,696,965 | 2.3% | 14.0% |
| 5 | Marion County, Illinois | $42,311,468 | 2.3% | 16.3% |
| 6 | Iroquois County, Illinois | $40,488,324 | 2.2% | 18.5% |
| 7 | Hamilton County, Illinois | $39,973,611 | 2.1% | 20.6% |
| 8 | Henry County, Illinois | $37,469,724 | 2.0% | 22.6% |
| 9 | Jefferson County, Illinois | $35,916,259 | 1.9% | 24.6% |
| 10 | Hancock County, Illinois | $34,227,303 | 1.8% | 26.4% |
| 11 | Mercer County, Illinois | $31,863,844 | 1.7% | 28.1% |
| 12 | Schuyler County, Illinois | $31,862,329 | 1.7% | 29.8% |
| 13 | Whiteside County, Illinois | $29,447,395 | 1.6% | 31.4% |
| 14 | Franklin County, Illinois | $29,310,212 | 1.6% | 33.0% |
| 15 | McLean County, Illinois | $27,752,012 | 1.5% | 34.5% |
| 16 | Knox County, Illinois | $27,582,251 | 1.5% | 36.0% |
| 17 | Adams County, Illinois | $26,594,664 | 1.4% | 37.4% |
| 18 | Shelby County, Illinois | $26,301,956 | 1.4% | 38.8% |
| 19 | Champaign County, Illinois | $26,191,977 | 1.4% | 40.2% |
| 20 | Sangamon County, Illinois | $26,165,223 | 1.4% | 41.6% |
| 21 | Union County, Illinois | $25,746,591 | 1.4% | 43.0% |
| 22 | Fayette County, Illinois | $25,661,798 | 1.4% | 44.4% |
| 23 | Livingston County, Illinois | $25,410,794 | 1.4% | 45.7% |
| 24 | Macoupin County, Illinois | $24,766,660 | 1.3% | 47.1% |
| 25 | Logan County, Illinois | $24,396,820 | 1.3% | 48.4% |
| 26 | Cass County, Illinois | $24,211,573 | 1.3% | 49.7% |
| 27 | Montgomery County, Illinois | $23,980,261 | 1.3% | 50.9% |
| 28 | Clay County, Illinois | $23,590,243 | 1.3% | 52.2% |
| 29 | Ogle County, Illinois | $22,907,127 | 1.2% | 53.4% |
| 30 | Greene County, Illinois | $22,816,663 | 1.2% | 54.7% |
| 31 | Brown County, Illinois | $22,494,603 | 1.2% | 55.9% |
| 32 | Bureau County, Illinois | $22,481,723 | 1.2% | 57.1% |
| 33 | Crawford County, Illinois | $21,765,227 | 1.2% | 58.2% |
| 34 | Effingham County, Illinois | $21,338,919 | 1.1% | 59.4% |
| 35 | Johnson County, Illinois | $20,934,658 | 1.1% | 60.5% |
| 36 | La Salle County, Illinois | $20,721,530 | 1.1% | 61.6% |
| 37 | Vermilion County, Illinois | $20,587,702 | 1.1% | 62.7% |
| 38 | Carroll County, Illinois | $19,945,760 | 1.1% | 63.8% |
| 39 | Jasper County, Illinois | $19,511,185 | 1.0% | 64.8% |
| 40 | Stephenson County, Illinois | $19,410,175 | 1.0% | 65.9% |
| 41 | White County, Illinois | $19,383,741 | 1.0% | 66.9% |
| 42 | Tazewell County, Illinois | $18,590,229 | 1.0% | 67.9% |
| 43 | Bond County, Illinois | $18,018,948 | 1.0% | 68.9% |
| 44 | Christian County, Illinois | $17,747,220 | 1.0% | 69.8% |
| 45 | Fulton County, Illinois | $17,698,498 | 0.9% | 70.8% |
| 46 | Mason County, Illinois | $17,460,124 | 0.9% | 71.7% |
| 47 | Cumberland County, Illinois | $17,431,295 | 0.9% | 72.7% |
| 48 | Jackson County, Illinois | $15,573,659 | 0.8% | 73.5% |
| 49 | Ford County, Illinois | $15,096,525 | 0.8% | 74.3% |
| 50 | Winnebago County, Illinois | $15,005,216 | 0.8% | 75.1% |
| 51 | Rock Island County, Illinois | $14,951,150 | 0.8% | 75.9% |
| 52 | McDonough County, Illinois | $14,549,912 | 0.8% | 76.7% |
| 53 | Morgan County, Illinois | $14,527,548 | 0.8% | 77.5% |
| 54 | Lawrence County, Illinois | $14,504,325 | 0.8% | 78.3% |
| 55 | Menard County, Illinois | $14,491,394 | 0.8% | 79.0% |
| 56 | Clark County, Illinois | $14,391,601 | 0.8% | 79.8% |
| 57 | Calhoun County, Illinois | $14,197,102 | 0.8% | 80.6% |
| 58 | Richland County, Illinois | $13,830,166 | 0.7% | 81.3% |
| 59 | Massac County, Illinois | $13,578,574 | 0.7% | 82.0% |
| 60 | Edgar County, Illinois | $13,569,359 | 0.7% | 82.8% |
| 61 | Woodford County, Illinois | $13,095,757 | 0.7% | 83.5% |
| 62 | Randolph County, Illinois | $12,924,502 | 0.7% | 84.2% |
| 63 | DeKalb County, Illinois | $12,790,418 | 0.7% | 84.9% |
| 64 | Williamson County, Illinois | $12,190,636 | 0.7% | 85.5% |
| 65 | Pulaski County, Illinois | $12,028,981 | 0.6% | 86.2% |
| 66 | Coles County, Illinois | $11,879,460 | 0.6% | 86.8% |
| 67 | Saline County, Illinois | $11,860,426 | 0.6% | 87.4% |
| 68 | Clinton County, Illinois | $11,780,787 | 0.6% | 88.1% |
| 69 | Douglas County, Illinois | $11,620,113 | 0.6% | 88.7% |
| 70 | Pope County, Illinois | $11,461,430 | 0.6% | 89.3% |
| 71 | Edwards County, Illinois | $10,597,434 | 0.6% | 89.9% |
| 72 | Jersey County, Illinois | $10,388,896 | 0.6% | 90.4% |
| 73 | Perry County, Illinois | $10,205,568 | 0.5% | 91.0% |
| 74 | Washington County, Illinois | $10,116,651 | 0.5% | 91.5% |
| 75 | Lee County, Illinois | $9,958,500 | 0.5% | 92.0% |
| 76 | Scott County, Illinois | $9,856,589 | 0.5% | 92.6% |
| 77 | De Witt County, Illinois | $8,575,315 | 0.5% | 93.0% |
| 78 | Stark County, Illinois | $8,489,118 | 0.5% | 93.5% |
| 79 | Macon County, Illinois | $8,452,342 | 0.5% | 93.9% |
| 80 | Peoria County, Illinois | $8,261,586 | 0.4% | 94.4% |
| 81 | Monroe County, Illinois | $8,036,742 | 0.4% | 94.8% |
| 82 | Warren County, Illinois | $7,581,327 | 0.4% | 95.2% |
| 83 | Henderson County, Illinois | $7,439,549 | 0.4% | 95.6% |
| 84 | Gallatin County, Illinois | $7,208,472 | 0.4% | 96.0% |
| 85 | Wabash County, Illinois | $7,143,971 | 0.4% | 96.4% |
| 86 | Piatt County, Illinois | $6,901,491 | 0.4% | 96.8% |
| 87 | Saint Clair County, Illinois | $6,835,413 | 0.4% | 97.1% |
| 88 | Putnam County, Illinois | $6,524,988 | 0.4% | 97.5% |
| 89 | Madison County, Illinois | $6,240,511 | 0.3% | 97.8% |
| 90 | Kankakee County, Illinois | $5,534,702 | 0.3% | 98.1% |
| 91 | Moultrie County, Illinois | $5,522,709 | 0.3% | 98.4% |
| 92 | Marshall County, Illinois | $4,962,116 | 0.3% | 98.7% |
| 93 | Boone County, Illinois | $4,680,894 | 0.3% | 98.9% |
| 94 | Alexander County, Illinois | $4,533,830 | 0.2% | 99.2% |
| 95 | Grundy County, Illinois | $4,060,869 | 0.2% | 99.4% |
| 96 | Hardin County, Illinois | $3,259,687 | 0.2% | 99.6% |
| 97 | McHenry County, Illinois | $3,193,496 | 0.2% | 99.7% |
| 98 | Will County, Illinois | $2,871,391 | 0.2% | 99.9% |
| 99 | Kendall County, Illinois | $1,238,970 | 0.1% | 100.0% |
| 100 | Kane County, Illinois | $776,706 | 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 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.
