| Rank |
County |
Misc. Disaster Payments
1995-2012 | Pct of
Total | Running
Percentage |
| 1 | Marshall County, Minnesota | $66,249,666 | 11.5% | 11.5% |
| 2 | Polk County, Minnesota | $51,714,466 | 8.9% | 20.4% |
| 3 | Kittson County, Minnesota | $40,026,849 | 6.9% | 27.3% |
| 4 | Roseau County, Minnesota | $35,451,390 | 6.1% | 33.5% |
| 5 | Norman County, Minnesota | $30,350,558 | 5.3% | 38.7% |
| 6 | Pennington County, Minnesota | $24,213,341 | 4.2% | 42.9% |
| 7 | Clay County, Minnesota | $22,897,741 | 4.0% | 46.9% |
| 8 | Stearns County, Minnesota | $18,018,044 | 3.1% | 50.0% |
| 9 | Otter Tail County, Minnesota | $13,416,869 | 2.3% | 52.3% |
| 10 | Morrison County, Minnesota | $12,804,275 | 2.2% | 54.5% |
| 11 | Becker County, Minnesota | $10,966,090 | 1.9% | 56.4% |
| 12 | Wilkin County, Minnesota | $10,697,297 | 1.9% | 58.3% |
| 13 | Red Lake County, Minnesota | $9,881,528 | 1.7% | 60.0% |
| 14 | Mahnomen County, Minnesota | $8,829,565 | 1.5% | 61.5% |
| 15 | Traverse County, Minnesota | $8,730,842 | 1.5% | 63.0% |
| 16 | Renville County, Minnesota | $8,612,574 | 1.5% | 64.5% |
| 17 | Benton County, Minnesota | $8,055,497 | 1.4% | 65.9% |
| 18 | Big Stone County, Minnesota | $7,767,497 | 1.3% | 67.3% |
| 19 | Todd County, Minnesota | $7,396,676 | 1.3% | 68.5% |
| 20 | Wright County, Minnesota | $6,088,333 | 1.1% | 69.6% |
| 21 | Grant County, Minnesota | $5,906,066 | 1.0% | 70.6% |
| 22 | Freeborn County, Minnesota | $5,867,906 | 1.0% | 71.6% |
| 23 | Swift County, Minnesota | $5,587,507 | 1.0% | 72.6% |
| 24 | Dakota County, Minnesota | $5,323,744 | 0.9% | 73.5% |
| 25 | Beltrami County, Minnesota | $5,012,629 | 0.9% | 74.4% |
| 26 | Mower County, Minnesota | $4,998,573 | 0.9% | 75.3% |
| 27 | Pope County, Minnesota | $4,925,754 | 0.9% | 76.1% |
| 28 | Stevens County, Minnesota | $4,831,540 | 0.8% | 76.9% |
| 29 | Lake of the Woods County, Minnesota | $4,807,282 | 0.8% | 77.8% |
| 30 | Kandiyohi County, Minnesota | $4,749,484 | 0.8% | 78.6% |
| 31 | Redwood County, Minnesota | $4,651,940 | 0.8% | 79.4% |
| 32 | Meeker County, Minnesota | $4,580,848 | 0.8% | 80.2% |
| 33 | Chippewa County, Minnesota | $4,556,207 | 0.8% | 81.0% |
| 34 | Nobles County, Minnesota | $4,476,078 | 0.8% | 81.8% |
| 35 | Brown County, Minnesota | $4,103,576 | 0.7% | 82.5% |
| 36 | Faribault County, Minnesota | $4,017,251 | 0.7% | 83.2% |
| 37 | Sibley County, Minnesota | $3,590,627 | 0.6% | 83.8% |
| 38 | Clearwater County, Minnesota | $3,543,358 | 0.6% | 84.4% |
| 39 | Fillmore County, Minnesota | $3,466,731 | 0.6% | 85.0% |
| 40 | Lincoln County, Minnesota | $3,363,890 | 0.6% | 85.6% |
| 41 | McLeod County, Minnesota | $3,330,760 | 0.6% | 86.2% |
| 42 | Lac qui Parle County, Minnesota | $3,260,949 | 0.6% | 86.7% |
| 43 | Jackson County, Minnesota | $3,149,096 | 0.5% | 87.3% |
| 44 | Sherburne County, Minnesota | $3,076,491 | 0.5% | 87.8% |
| 45 | Martin County, Minnesota | $3,020,875 | 0.5% | 88.3% |
| 46 | Douglas County, Minnesota | $2,893,953 | 0.5% | 88.8% |
| 47 | Yellow Medicine County, Minnesota | $2,730,345 | 0.5% | 89.3% |
| 48 | Pipestone County, Minnesota | $2,706,663 | 0.5% | 89.8% |
| 49 | Blue Earth County, Minnesota | $2,695,145 | 0.5% | 90.2% |
| 50 | Wadena County, Minnesota | $2,661,480 | 0.5% | 90.7% |
| 51 | Murray County, Minnesota | $2,641,888 | 0.5% | 91.1% |
| 52 | Hubbard County, Minnesota | $2,612,489 | 0.5% | 91.6% |
| 53 | Cass County, Minnesota | $2,399,211 | 0.4% | 92.0% |
| 54 | Lyon County, Minnesota | $2,360,857 | 0.4% | 92.4% |
| 55 | Goodhue County, Minnesota | $2,289,378 | 0.4% | 92.8% |
| 56 | Isanti County, Minnesota | $2,147,174 | 0.4% | 93.2% |
| 57 | Cottonwood County, Minnesota | $2,131,756 | 0.4% | 93.6% |
| 58 | Mille Lacs County, Minnesota | $2,117,664 | 0.4% | 93.9% |
| 59 | Scott County, Minnesota | $2,090,820 | 0.4% | 94.3% |
| 60 | Hennepin County, Minnesota | $2,082,555 | 0.4% | 94.6% |
| 61 | Steele County, Minnesota | $2,075,816 | 0.4% | 95.0% |
| 62 | Olmsted County, Minnesota | $1,791,794 | 0.3% | 95.3% |
| 63 | Rock County, Minnesota | $1,785,767 | 0.3% | 95.6% |
| 64 | Wabasha County, Minnesota | $1,663,413 | 0.3% | 95.9% |
| 65 | Chisago County, Minnesota | $1,634,476 | 0.3% | 96.2% |
| 66 | Washington County, Minnesota | $1,607,920 | 0.3% | 96.5% |
| 67 | Kanabec County, Minnesota | $1,595,038 | 0.3% | 96.7% |
| 68 | Le Sueur County, Minnesota | $1,593,498 | 0.3% | 97.0% |
| 69 | Waseca County, Minnesota | $1,553,521 | 0.3% | 97.3% |
| 70 | Carver County, Minnesota | $1,548,291 | 0.3% | 97.6% |
| 71 | Pine County, Minnesota | $1,536,139 | 0.3% | 97.8% |
| 72 | Rice County, Minnesota | $1,463,445 | 0.3% | 98.1% |
| 73 | Aitkin County, Minnesota | $1,347,723 | 0.2% | 98.3% |
| 74 | Crow Wing County, Minnesota | $1,340,298 | 0.2% | 98.5% |
| 75 | Watonwan County, Minnesota | $1,289,613 | 0.2% | 98.8% |
| 76 | Houston County, Minnesota | $1,183,866 | 0.2% | 99.0% |
| 77 | Nicollet County, Minnesota | $1,170,229 | 0.2% | 99.2% |
| 78 | Dodge County, Minnesota | $1,139,639 | 0.2% | 99.4% |
| 79 | Anoka County, Minnesota | $1,051,989 | 0.2% | 99.6% |
| 80 | Koochiching County, Minnesota | $907,849 | 0.2% | 99.7% |
| 81 | Itasca County, Minnesota | $555,073 | 0.1% | 99.8% |
| 82 | Saint Louis County, Minnesota | $499,370 | 0.1% | 99.9% |
| 83 | Carlton County, Minnesota | $355,053 | 0.1% | 100.0% |
| 84 | Winona County, Minnesota | $238,336 | 0.0% | 100.0% |
| 85 | Cook County, Minnesota | $32,139 | 0.0% | 100.0% |
Source: Environmental Working Group. Compiled from USDA data.
Note: The information on conservation spending for 2011and 2012 are 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 or 2012 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.
