| Rank |
County |
Misc. Conservation Payments
1995-2011 | Pct of
Total | Running
Percentage |
| 1 | Barren County, Kentucky | $390,084 | 3.6% | 3.6% |
| 2 | Adair County, Kentucky | $385,941 | 3.6% | 7.3% |
| 3 | Washington County, Kentucky | $301,505 | 2.8% | 10.1% |
| 4 | Warren County, Kentucky | $295,826 | 2.8% | 12.8% |
| 5 | Green County, Kentucky | $287,448 | 2.7% | 15.5% |
| 6 | Breckinridge County, Kentucky | $278,919 | 2.6% | 18.1% |
| 7 | Fleming County, Kentucky | $269,965 | 2.5% | 20.7% |
| 8 | Hart County, Kentucky | $257,959 | 2.4% | 23.1% |
| 9 | Bourbon County, Kentucky | $240,789 | 2.3% | 25.3% |
| 10 | Marion County, Kentucky | $231,105 | 2.2% | 27.5% |
| 11 | Larue County, Kentucky | $225,406 | 2.1% | 29.6% |
| 12 | Casey County, Kentucky | $212,744 | 2.0% | 31.6% |
| 13 | Logan County, Kentucky | $212,330 | 2.0% | 33.6% |
| 14 | Montgomery County, Kentucky | $208,253 | 1.9% | 35.5% |
| 15 | Bath County, Kentucky | $205,454 | 1.9% | 37.5% |
| 16 | Clark County, Kentucky | $200,471 | 1.9% | 39.3% |
| 17 | Madison County, Kentucky | $193,657 | 1.8% | 41.1% |
| 18 | Mercer County, Kentucky | $191,388 | 1.8% | 42.9% |
| 19 | Nicholas County, Kentucky | $189,049 | 1.8% | 44.7% |
| 20 | Monroe County, Kentucky | $184,566 | 1.7% | 46.4% |
| 21 | Nelson County, Kentucky | $173,671 | 1.6% | 48.1% |
| 22 | Laurel County, Kentucky | $163,045 | 1.5% | 49.6% |
| 23 | Butler County, Kentucky | $162,317 | 1.5% | 51.1% |
| 24 | Pulaski County, Kentucky | $158,757 | 1.5% | 52.6% |
| 25 | Allen County, Kentucky | $157,214 | 1.5% | 54.1% |
| 26 | Hardin County, Kentucky | $138,400 | 1.3% | 55.3% |
| 27 | Metcalfe County, Kentucky | $137,388 | 1.3% | 56.6% |
| 28 | Boyle County, Kentucky | $135,309 | 1.3% | 57.9% |
| 29 | Grayson County, Kentucky | $125,450 | 1.2% | 59.1% |
| 30 | Harrison County, Kentucky | $122,460 | 1.1% | 60.2% |
| 31 | Russell County, Kentucky | $121,094 | 1.1% | 61.4% |
| 32 | Scott County, Kentucky | $120,037 | 1.1% | 62.5% |
| 33 | Jackson County, Kentucky | $118,535 | 1.1% | 63.6% |
| 34 | Christian County, Kentucky | $117,953 | 1.1% | 64.7% |
| 35 | Wayne County, Kentucky | $115,646 | 1.1% | 65.8% |
| 36 | Edmonson County, Kentucky | $110,008 | 1.0% | 66.8% |
| 37 | Taylor County, Kentucky | $105,277 | 1.0% | 67.8% |
| 38 | Owen County, Kentucky | $101,043 | 0.9% | 68.7% |
| 39 | Rockcastle County, Kentucky | $99,157 | 0.9% | 69.7% |
| 40 | Anderson County, Kentucky | $96,968 | 0.9% | 70.6% |
| 41 | Lewis County, Kentucky | $96,298 | 0.9% | 71.5% |
| 42 | Elliott County, Kentucky | $93,145 | 0.9% | 72.3% |
| 43 | Carter County, Kentucky | $91,107 | 0.9% | 73.2% |
| 44 | Morgan County, Kentucky | $86,009 | 0.8% | 74.0% |
| 45 | Meade County, Kentucky | $85,751 | 0.8% | 74.8% |
| 46 | Wolfe County, Kentucky | $85,084 | 0.8% | 75.6% |
| 47 | Lincoln County, Kentucky | $84,108 | 0.8% | 76.4% |
| 48 | Clinton County, Kentucky | $83,858 | 0.8% | 77.2% |
| 49 | Ohio County, Kentucky | $80,883 | 0.8% | 77.9% |
| 50 | Muhlenberg County, Kentucky | $80,259 | 0.8% | 78.7% |
| 51 | Caldwell County, Kentucky | $79,154 | 0.7% | 79.4% |
| 52 | Marshall County, Kentucky | $76,513 | 0.7% | 80.1% |
| 53 | Rowan County, Kentucky | $73,283 | 0.7% | 80.8% |
| 54 | Hancock County, Kentucky | $72,331 | 0.7% | 81.5% |
| 55 | Garrard County, Kentucky | $70,844 | 0.7% | 82.2% |
| 56 | Henry County, Kentucky | $70,432 | 0.7% | 82.8% |
| 57 | Whitley County, Kentucky | $63,772 | 0.6% | 83.4% |
| 58 | Lawrence County, Kentucky | $62,191 | 0.6% | 84.0% |
| 59 | Graves County, Kentucky | $61,459 | 0.6% | 84.6% |
| 60 | Mason County, Kentucky | $60,845 | 0.6% | 85.1% |
| 61 | Daviess County, Kentucky | $58,981 | 0.6% | 85.7% |
| 62 | Cumberland County, Kentucky | $57,995 | 0.5% | 86.2% |
| 63 | Union County, Kentucky | $55,535 | 0.5% | 86.7% |
| 64 | Hopkins County, Kentucky | $52,910 | 0.5% | 87.2% |
| 65 | Jessamine County, Kentucky | $50,294 | 0.5% | 87.7% |
| 66 | Estill County, Kentucky | $49,690 | 0.5% | 88.2% |
| 67 | Henderson County, Kentucky | $48,643 | 0.5% | 88.6% |
| 68 | Webster County, Kentucky | $48,535 | 0.5% | 89.1% |
| 69 | Todd County, Kentucky | $47,808 | 0.4% | 89.5% |
| 70 | Ballard County, Kentucky | $47,157 | 0.4% | 90.0% |
| 71 | Shelby County, Kentucky | $46,076 | 0.4% | 90.4% |
| 72 | Crittenden County, Kentucky | $45,931 | 0.4% | 90.8% |
| 73 | Fayette County, Kentucky | $43,756 | 0.4% | 91.2% |
| 74 | Magoffin County, Kentucky | $43,371 | 0.4% | 91.6% |
| 75 | Franklin County, Kentucky | $43,232 | 0.4% | 92.1% |
| 76 | Woodford County, Kentucky | $42,847 | 0.4% | 92.5% |
| 77 | Lyon County, Kentucky | $42,042 | 0.4% | 92.8% |
| 78 | Trimble County, Kentucky | $39,725 | 0.4% | 93.2% |
| 79 | Boone County, Kentucky | $39,160 | 0.4% | 93.6% |
| 80 | Greenup County, Kentucky | $38,152 | 0.4% | 93.9% |
| 81 | Livingston County, Kentucky | $36,672 | 0.3% | 94.3% |
| 82 | Simpson County, Kentucky | $35,922 | 0.3% | 94.6% |
| 83 | Menifee County, Kentucky | $32,334 | 0.3% | 94.9% |
| 84 | Spencer County, Kentucky | $31,296 | 0.3% | 95.2% |
| 85 | Johnson County, Kentucky | $28,543 | 0.3% | 95.5% |
| 86 | McLean County, Kentucky | $28,522 | 0.3% | 95.8% |
| 87 | Hickman County, Kentucky | $28,297 | 0.3% | 96.0% |
| 88 | Lee County, Kentucky | $27,724 | 0.3% | 96.3% |
| 89 | Powell County, Kentucky | $27,348 | 0.3% | 96.5% |
| 90 | Pendleton County, Kentucky | $26,732 | 0.3% | 96.8% |
| 91 | Grant County, Kentucky | $26,325 | 0.2% | 97.0% |
| 92 | Bullitt County, Kentucky | $25,943 | 0.2% | 97.3% |
| 93 | Carlisle County, Kentucky | $25,514 | 0.2% | 97.5% |
| 94 | Knox County, Kentucky | $25,082 | 0.2% | 97.7% |
| 95 | Carroll County, Kentucky | $24,458 | 0.2% | 98.0% |
| 96 | Owsley County, Kentucky | $23,043 | 0.2% | 98.2% |
| 97 | Bracken County, Kentucky | $22,869 | 0.2% | 98.4% |
| 98 | Campbell County, Kentucky | $21,074 | 0.2% | 98.6% |
| 99 | Boyd County, Kentucky | $18,999 | 0.2% | 98.8% |
| 100 | Robertson County, Kentucky | $18,294 | 0.2% | 98.9% |
| 101 | Oldham County, Kentucky | $18,005 | 0.2% | 99.1% |
| 102 | Kenton County, Kentucky | $16,088 | 0.2% | 99.3% |
| 103 | Gallatin County, Kentucky | $15,517 | 0.1% | 99.4% |
| 104 | Fulton County, Kentucky | $14,110 | 0.1% | 99.5% |
| 105 | McCreary County, Kentucky | $14,036 | 0.1% | 99.7% |
| 106 | Clay County, Kentucky | $13,664 | 0.1% | 99.8% |
| 107 | Jefferson County, Kentucky | $9,870 | 0.1% | 99.9% |
| 108 | Perry County, Kentucky | $3,267 | 0.0% | 99.9% |
| 109 | Bell County, Kentucky | $3,188 | 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.
