Total Direct Payments in Iowa totaled $4.4 billion from 1995-2011.
Counties in Iowa Receiving Total Direct Payments payments, 1995-2011
| Rank | County | Total Direct Payments 1995-2011 | Pct of Total | Running Percentage |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kossuth County, Iowa | $110,105,888 | 2.5% | 2.5% |
| 2 | Sioux County, Iowa | $77,799,907 | 1.8% | 4.3% |
| 3 | Pottawattamie County, Iowa | $77,599,851 | 1.8% | 6.0% |
| 4 | Clinton County, Iowa | $70,492,578 | 1.6% | 7.6% |
| 5 | Benton County, Iowa | $70,394,068 | 1.6% | 9.2% |
| 6 | Plymouth County, Iowa | $70,303,526 | 1.6% | 10.8% |
| 7 | Webster County, Iowa | $67,634,245 | 1.5% | 12.3% |
| 8 | Fayette County, Iowa | $66,924,728 | 1.5% | 13.8% |
| 9 | Woodbury County, Iowa | $65,185,544 | 1.5% | 15.3% |
| 10 | Tama County, Iowa | $64,653,784 | 1.5% | 16.8% |
| 11 | Pocahontas County, Iowa | $62,825,762 | 1.4% | 18.2% |
| 12 | Cedar County, Iowa | $62,541,750 | 1.4% | 19.6% |
| 13 | Hancock County, Iowa | $61,995,561 | 1.4% | 21.0% |
| 14 | Franklin County, Iowa | $61,803,683 | 1.4% | 22.4% |
| 15 | O'Brien County, Iowa | $61,276,729 | 1.4% | 23.8% |
| 16 | Buena Vista County, Iowa | $60,835,264 | 1.4% | 25.2% |
| 17 | Buchanan County, Iowa | $60,214,006 | 1.4% | 26.6% |
| 18 | Cerro Gordo County, Iowa | $59,579,564 | 1.3% | 27.9% |
| 19 | Grundy County, Iowa | $58,837,562 | 1.3% | 29.2% |
| 20 | Hardin County, Iowa | $58,793,323 | 1.3% | 30.6% |
| 21 | Calhoun County, Iowa | $58,792,272 | 1.3% | 31.9% |
| 22 | Wright County, Iowa | $58,541,102 | 1.3% | 33.2% |
| 23 | Hamilton County, Iowa | $58,294,780 | 1.3% | 34.6% |
| 24 | Jasper County, Iowa | $57,835,284 | 1.3% | 35.9% |
| 25 | Palo Alto County, Iowa | $57,665,679 | 1.3% | 37.2% |
| 26 | Crawford County, Iowa | $56,735,080 | 1.3% | 38.5% |
| 27 | Greene County, Iowa | $56,001,587 | 1.3% | 39.7% |
| 28 | Delaware County, Iowa | $55,052,737 | 1.2% | 41.0% |
| 29 | Carroll County, Iowa | $54,946,327 | 1.2% | 42.2% |
| 30 | Shelby County, Iowa | $54,239,669 | 1.2% | 43.4% |
| 31 | Sac County, Iowa | $53,868,637 | 1.2% | 44.7% |
| 32 | Clay County, Iowa | $53,421,173 | 1.2% | 45.9% |
| 33 | Cherokee County, Iowa | $53,377,079 | 1.2% | 47.1% |
| 34 | Linn County, Iowa | $53,122,584 | 1.2% | 48.3% |
| 35 | Black Hawk County, Iowa | $52,757,499 | 1.2% | 49.5% |
| 36 | Story County, Iowa | $52,466,565 | 1.2% | 50.7% |
| 37 | Butler County, Iowa | $52,106,300 | 1.2% | 51.8% |
| 38 | Marshall County, Iowa | $51,452,850 | 1.2% | 53.0% |
| 39 | Harrison County, Iowa | $51,452,263 | 1.2% | 54.2% |
| 40 | Monona County, Iowa | $51,063,922 | 1.2% | 55.3% |
| 41 | Boone County, Iowa | $50,316,010 | 1.1% | 56.5% |
| 42 | Lyon County, Iowa | $49,733,955 | 1.1% | 57.6% |
| 43 | Jones County, Iowa | $48,987,235 | 1.1% | 58.7% |
| 44 | Floyd County, Iowa | $47,586,835 | 1.1% | 59.8% |
| 45 | Washington County, Iowa | $46,403,642 | 1.1% | 60.8% |
| 46 | Poweshiek County, Iowa | $46,236,497 | 1.0% | 61.9% |
| 47 | Winnebago County, Iowa | $45,633,442 | 1.0% | 62.9% |
| 48 | Chickasaw County, Iowa | $45,531,807 | 1.0% | 63.9% |
| 49 | Winneshiek County, Iowa | $45,458,036 | 1.0% | 65.0% |
| 50 | Scott County, Iowa | $44,774,542 | 1.0% | 66.0% |
| 51 | Humboldt County, Iowa | $43,957,514 | 1.0% | 67.0% |
| 52 | Dallas County, Iowa | $43,817,438 | 1.0% | 68.0% |
| 53 | Mitchell County, Iowa | $43,488,444 | 1.0% | 69.0% |
| 54 | Emmet County, Iowa | $43,452,376 | 1.0% | 70.0% |
| 55 | Bremer County, Iowa | $43,275,040 | 1.0% | 70.9% |
| 56 | Mahaska County, Iowa | $43,140,057 | 1.0% | 71.9% |
| 57 | Clayton County, Iowa | $43,010,834 | 1.0% | 72.9% |
| 58 | Osceola County, Iowa | $42,589,306 | 1.0% | 73.8% |
| 59 | Iowa County, Iowa | $41,775,717 | 0.9% | 74.8% |
| 60 | Cass County, Iowa | $41,698,340 | 0.9% | 75.7% |
| 61 | Keokuk County, Iowa | $41,612,584 | 0.9% | 76.7% |
| 62 | Worth County, Iowa | $40,746,168 | 0.9% | 77.6% |
| 63 | Ida County, Iowa | $40,554,224 | 0.9% | 78.5% |
| 64 | Johnson County, Iowa | $40,172,835 | 0.9% | 79.4% |
| 65 | Fremont County, Iowa | $38,687,179 | 0.9% | 80.3% |
| 66 | Howard County, Iowa | $37,654,706 | 0.9% | 81.2% |
| 67 | Audubon County, Iowa | $36,841,489 | 0.8% | 82.0% |
| 68 | Dubuque County, Iowa | $36,808,695 | 0.8% | 82.8% |
| 69 | Adair County, Iowa | $35,452,765 | 0.8% | 83.6% |
| 70 | Guthrie County, Iowa | $34,887,099 | 0.8% | 84.4% |
| 71 | Henry County, Iowa | $33,805,104 | 0.8% | 85.2% |
| 72 | Mills County, Iowa | $33,687,550 | 0.8% | 86.0% |
| 73 | Muscatine County, Iowa | $33,582,802 | 0.8% | 86.7% |
| 74 | Page County, Iowa | $33,182,515 | 0.8% | 87.5% |
| 75 | Jackson County, Iowa | $33,090,875 | 0.7% | 88.2% |
| 76 | Montgomery County, Iowa | $32,142,336 | 0.7% | 88.9% |
| 77 | Dickinson County, Iowa | $30,732,200 | 0.7% | 89.6% |
| 78 | Louisa County, Iowa | $30,577,845 | 0.7% | 90.3% |
| 79 | Des Moines County, Iowa | $30,150,252 | 0.7% | 91.0% |
| 80 | Polk County, Iowa | $29,901,835 | 0.7% | 91.7% |
| 81 | Lee County, Iowa | $27,121,883 | 0.6% | 92.3% |
| 82 | Marion County, Iowa | $26,881,612 | 0.6% | 92.9% |
| 83 | Jefferson County, Iowa | $25,057,209 | 0.6% | 93.5% |
| 84 | Allamakee County, Iowa | $24,934,489 | 0.6% | 94.0% |
| 85 | Warren County, Iowa | $24,442,784 | 0.6% | 94.6% |
| 86 | Madison County, Iowa | $24,009,076 | 0.5% | 95.1% |
| 87 | Taylor County, Iowa | $22,692,691 | 0.5% | 95.7% |
| 88 | Wapello County, Iowa | $22,499,689 | 0.5% | 96.2% |
| 89 | Adams County, Iowa | $22,231,347 | 0.5% | 96.7% |
| 90 | Wayne County, Iowa | $20,141,505 | 0.5% | 97.1% |
| 91 | Union County, Iowa | $17,438,984 | 0.4% | 97.5% |
| 92 | Ringgold County, Iowa | $17,393,281 | 0.4% | 97.9% |
| 93 | Van Buren County, Iowa | $16,297,609 | 0.4% | 98.3% |
| 94 | Davis County, Iowa | $15,194,927 | 0.3% | 98.6% |
| 95 | Clarke County, Iowa | $13,415,392 | 0.3% | 98.9% |
| 96 | Decatur County, Iowa | $12,928,872 | 0.3% | 99.2% |
| 97 | Appanoose County, Iowa | $12,505,914 | 0.3% | 99.5% |
| 98 | Monroe County, Iowa | $11,344,036 | 0.3% | 99.8% |
| 99 | Lucas County, Iowa | $10,395,945 | 0.2% | 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.
