| Rank |
County |
Conservation Reserve Program
2011 | Pct of
Total | Running
Percentage |
| 1 | Marshall County, Minnesota | $7,866,545 | 7.0% | 7.0% |
| 2 | Polk County, Minnesota | $7,001,218 | 6.2% | 13.2% |
| 3 | Roseau County, Minnesota | $4,781,774 | 4.3% | 17.5% |
| 4 | Kittson County, Minnesota | $4,620,882 | 4.1% | 21.6% |
| 5 | Otter Tail County, Minnesota | $4,162,021 | 3.7% | 25.3% |
| 6 | Kandiyohi County, Minnesota | $4,096,665 | 3.6% | 28.9% |
| 7 | Swift County, Minnesota | $3,139,398 | 2.8% | 31.7% |
| 8 | Lac qui Parle County, Minnesota | $2,877,569 | 2.6% | 34.3% |
| 9 | Pennington County, Minnesota | $2,671,456 | 2.4% | 36.6% |
| 10 | Lincoln County, Minnesota | $2,586,427 | 2.3% | 38.9% |
| 11 | Pope County, Minnesota | $2,542,610 | 2.3% | 41.2% |
| 12 | Grant County, Minnesota | $2,492,781 | 2.2% | 43.4% |
| 13 | Norman County, Minnesota | $2,448,377 | 2.2% | 45.6% |
| 14 | Stearns County, Minnesota | $2,321,758 | 2.1% | 47.6% |
| 15 | Murray County, Minnesota | $2,193,397 | 1.9% | 49.6% |
| 16 | Yellow Medicine County, Minnesota | $2,113,427 | 1.9% | 51.5% |
| 17 | Fillmore County, Minnesota | $2,004,347 | 1.8% | 53.3% |
| 18 | Douglas County, Minnesota | $1,961,285 | 1.7% | 55.0% |
| 19 | Clay County, Minnesota | $1,916,620 | 1.7% | 56.7% |
| 20 | Renville County, Minnesota | $1,908,204 | 1.7% | 58.4% |
| 21 | Brown County, Minnesota | $1,903,430 | 1.7% | 60.1% |
| 22 | Meeker County, Minnesota | $1,863,407 | 1.7% | 61.8% |
| 23 | Redwood County, Minnesota | $1,840,805 | 1.6% | 63.4% |
| 24 | Chippewa County, Minnesota | $1,817,448 | 1.6% | 65.0% |
| 25 | Le Sueur County, Minnesota | $1,816,986 | 1.6% | 66.6% |
| 26 | Becker County, Minnesota | $1,768,412 | 1.6% | 68.2% |
| 27 | Red Lake County, Minnesota | $1,669,336 | 1.5% | 69.7% |
| 28 | Traverse County, Minnesota | $1,514,521 | 1.3% | 71.0% |
| 29 | Freeborn County, Minnesota | $1,493,030 | 1.3% | 72.3% |
| 30 | Blue Earth County, Minnesota | $1,460,912 | 1.3% | 73.6% |
| 31 | Stevens County, Minnesota | $1,436,072 | 1.3% | 74.9% |
| 32 | Rice County, Minnesota | $1,434,088 | 1.3% | 76.2% |
| 33 | Lyon County, Minnesota | $1,431,841 | 1.3% | 77.5% |
| 34 | Houston County, Minnesota | $1,428,517 | 1.3% | 78.7% |
| 35 | Cottonwood County, Minnesota | $1,358,232 | 1.2% | 79.9% |
| 36 | Steele County, Minnesota | $1,354,362 | 1.2% | 81.1% |
| 37 | Waseca County, Minnesota | $1,239,030 | 1.1% | 82.3% |
| 38 | Jackson County, Minnesota | $1,059,756 | 0.9% | 83.2% |
| 39 | Wilkin County, Minnesota | $1,039,111 | 0.9% | 84.1% |
| 40 | Nobles County, Minnesota | $1,026,711 | 0.9% | 85.0% |
| 41 | Mower County, Minnesota | $953,548 | 0.8% | 85.9% |
| 42 | Martin County, Minnesota | $947,426 | 0.8% | 86.7% |
| 43 | Winona County, Minnesota | $936,180 | 0.8% | 87.5% |
| 44 | McLeod County, Minnesota | $921,683 | 0.8% | 88.4% |
| 45 | Mahnomen County, Minnesota | $896,198 | 0.8% | 89.2% |
| 46 | Wabasha County, Minnesota | $883,449 | 0.8% | 90.0% |
| 47 | Goodhue County, Minnesota | $844,129 | 0.8% | 90.7% |
| 48 | Olmsted County, Minnesota | $817,246 | 0.7% | 91.4% |
| 49 | Wright County, Minnesota | $791,449 | 0.7% | 92.1% |
| 50 | Faribault County, Minnesota | $779,514 | 0.7% | 92.8% |
| 51 | Watonwan County, Minnesota | $755,264 | 0.7% | 93.5% |
| 52 | Pipestone County, Minnesota | $732,546 | 0.7% | 94.1% |
| 53 | Nicollet County, Minnesota | $660,370 | 0.6% | 94.7% |
| 54 | Todd County, Minnesota | $649,724 | 0.6% | 95.3% |
| 55 | Carver County, Minnesota | $641,601 | 0.6% | 95.9% |
| 56 | Big Stone County, Minnesota | $631,156 | 0.6% | 96.4% |
| 57 | Beltrami County, Minnesota | $621,122 | 0.6% | 97.0% |
| 58 | Sibley County, Minnesota | $480,243 | 0.4% | 97.4% |
| 59 | Clearwater County, Minnesota | $408,211 | 0.4% | 97.8% |
| 60 | Dodge County, Minnesota | $376,857 | 0.3% | 98.1% |
| 61 | Scott County, Minnesota | $351,146 | 0.3% | 98.4% |
| 62 | Morrison County, Minnesota | $323,071 | 0.3% | 98.7% |
| 63 | Rock County, Minnesota | $320,180 | 0.3% | 99.0% |
| 64 | Dakota County, Minnesota | $311,890 | 0.3% | 99.3% |
| 65 | Wadena County, Minnesota | $159,355 | 0.1% | 99.4% |
| 66 | Benton County, Minnesota | $114,546 | 0.1% | 99.5% |
| 67 | Hennepin County, Minnesota | $81,496 | 0.1% | 99.6% |
| 68 | Lake of the Woods County, Minnesota | $70,358 | 0.1% | 99.7% |
| 69 | Sherburne County, Minnesota | $61,164 | 0.1% | 99.7% |
| 70 | Isanti County, Minnesota | $60,122 | 0.1% | 99.8% |
| 71 | Hubbard County, Minnesota | $47,673 | 0.0% | 99.8% |
| 72 | Mille Lacs County, Minnesota | $35,281 | 0.0% | 99.8% |
| 73 | Itasca County, Minnesota | $34,096 | 0.0% | 99.9% |
| 74 | Chisago County, Minnesota | $30,852 | 0.0% | 99.9% |
| 75 | Aitkin County, Minnesota | $24,506 | 0.0% | 99.9% |
| 76 | Cass County, Minnesota | $21,731 | 0.0% | 99.9% |
| 77 | Washington County, Minnesota | $21,426 | 0.0% | 100.0% |
| 78 | Carlton County, Minnesota | $9,717 | 0.0% | 100.0% |
| 79 | Pine County, Minnesota | $9,557 | 0.0% | 100.0% |
| 80 | Kanabec County, Minnesota | $9,337 | 0.0% | 100.0% |
| 81 | Anoka County, Minnesota | $9,214 | 0.0% | 100.0% |
| 82 | Koochiching County, Minnesota | $3,676 | 0.0% | 100.0% |
| 83 | Crow Wing County, Minnesota | $2,865 | 0.0% | 100.0% |
| 84 | Saint Louis County, Minnesota | $2,734 | 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.
