| Rank |
County |
Wheat Subsidies**
1995-2012 | Pct of
Total | Running
Percentage |
| 1 | Marshall County, Minnesota | $220,489,866 | 13.8% | 13.8% |
| 2 | Polk County, Minnesota | $212,436,581 | 13.3% | 27.1% |
| 3 | Kittson County, Minnesota | $146,486,223 | 9.2% | 36.3% |
| 4 | Norman County, Minnesota | $121,806,749 | 7.6% | 44.0% |
| 5 | Roseau County, Minnesota | $109,346,363 | 6.9% | 50.8% |
| 6 | Clay County, Minnesota | $109,191,166 | 6.8% | 57.7% |
| 7 | Wilkin County, Minnesota | $83,059,298 | 5.2% | 62.9% |
| 8 | Pennington County, Minnesota | $61,278,332 | 3.8% | 66.7% |
| 9 | Red Lake County, Minnesota | $42,452,427 | 2.7% | 69.4% |
| 10 | Traverse County, Minnesota | $42,451,386 | 2.7% | 72.0% |
| 11 | Becker County, Minnesota | $42,178,878 | 2.6% | 74.7% |
| 12 | Grant County, Minnesota | $39,795,011 | 2.5% | 77.2% |
| 13 | Otter Tail County, Minnesota | $27,467,483 | 1.7% | 78.9% |
| 14 | Mahnomen County, Minnesota | $27,213,012 | 1.7% | 80.6% |
| 15 | Stevens County, Minnesota | $26,217,141 | 1.6% | 82.3% |
| 16 | Big Stone County, Minnesota | $24,964,904 | 1.6% | 83.8% |
| 17 | Lac qui Parle County, Minnesota | $22,718,035 | 1.4% | 85.2% |
| 18 | Swift County, Minnesota | $16,026,067 | 1.0% | 86.2% |
| 19 | Yellow Medicine County, Minnesota | $13,038,012 | 0.8% | 87.1% |
| 20 | Lake of the Woods County, Minnesota | $12,629,972 | 0.8% | 87.9% |
| 21 | Chippewa County, Minnesota | $11,033,934 | 0.7% | 88.5% |
| 22 | Pope County, Minnesota | $10,993,145 | 0.7% | 89.2% |
| 23 | Renville County, Minnesota | $10,985,885 | 0.7% | 89.9% |
| 24 | Douglas County, Minnesota | $9,571,866 | 0.6% | 90.5% |
| 25 | Lincoln County, Minnesota | $8,957,334 | 0.6% | 91.1% |
| 26 | Kandiyohi County, Minnesota | $6,509,520 | 0.4% | 91.5% |
| 27 | Lyon County, Minnesota | $6,211,848 | 0.4% | 91.9% |
| 28 | Beltrami County, Minnesota | $6,131,335 | 0.4% | 92.3% |
| 29 | Clearwater County, Minnesota | $4,512,384 | 0.3% | 92.6% |
| 30 | Meeker County, Minnesota | $4,359,727 | 0.3% | 92.8% |
| 31 | Redwood County, Minnesota | $4,056,117 | 0.3% | 93.1% |
| 32 | McLeod County, Minnesota | $3,850,147 | 0.2% | 93.3% |
| 33 | Le Sueur County, Minnesota | $3,781,869 | 0.2% | 93.6% |
| 34 | Sibley County, Minnesota | $3,700,868 | 0.2% | 93.8% |
| 35 | Stearns County, Minnesota | $3,296,862 | 0.2% | 94.0% |
| 36 | Murray County, Minnesota | $2,070,366 | 0.1% | 94.1% |
| 37 | Todd County, Minnesota | $2,032,614 | 0.1% | 94.3% |
| 38 | Aitkin County, Minnesota | $2,005,372 | 0.1% | 94.4% |
| 39 | Dakota County, Minnesota | $1,961,418 | 0.1% | 94.5% |
| 40 | Koochiching County, Minnesota | $1,829,106 | 0.1% | 94.6% |
| 41 | Nicollet County, Minnesota | $1,776,165 | 0.1% | 94.7% |
| 42 | Wright County, Minnesota | $1,747,189 | 0.1% | 94.8% |
| 43 | Brown County, Minnesota | $1,698,084 | 0.1% | 94.9% |
| 44 | Pipestone County, Minnesota | $1,635,306 | 0.1% | 95.0% |
| 45 | Cottonwood County, Minnesota | $1,567,946 | 0.1% | 95.1% |
| 46 | Carver County, Minnesota | $1,402,797 | 0.1% | 95.2% |
| 47 | Blue Earth County, Minnesota | $1,264,426 | 0.1% | 95.3% |
| 48 | Rice County, Minnesota | $1,256,136 | 0.1% | 95.4% |
| 49 | Waseca County, Minnesota | $1,127,491 | 0.1% | 95.5% |
| 50 | Scott County, Minnesota | $1,046,206 | 0.1% | 95.5% |
| 51 | Steele County, Minnesota | $937,777 | 0.1% | 95.6% |
| 52 | Hubbard County, Minnesota | $937,400 | 0.1% | 95.6% |
| 53 | Nobles County, Minnesota | $847,347 | 0.1% | 95.7% |
| 54 | Goodhue County, Minnesota | $790,959 | 0.0% | 95.7% |
| 55 | Kanabec County, Minnesota | $612,884 | 0.0% | 95.8% |
| 56 | Mower County, Minnesota | $595,315 | 0.0% | 95.8% |
| 57 | Morrison County, Minnesota | $592,426 | 0.0% | 95.9% |
| 58 | Hennepin County, Minnesota | $545,703 | 0.0% | 95.9% |
| 59 | Washington County, Minnesota | $519,824 | 0.0% | 95.9% |
| 60 | Fillmore County, Minnesota | $512,580 | 0.0% | 96.0% |
| 61 | Faribault County, Minnesota | $500,600 | 0.0% | 96.0% |
| 62 | Jackson County, Minnesota | $452,460 | 0.0% | 96.0% |
| 63 | Freeborn County, Minnesota | $397,669 | 0.0% | 96.0% |
| 64 | Dodge County, Minnesota | $391,127 | 0.0% | 96.1% |
| 65 | Pine County, Minnesota | $386,124 | 0.0% | 96.1% |
| 66 | Watonwan County, Minnesota | $383,780 | 0.0% | 96.1% |
| 67 | Olmsted County, Minnesota | $380,247 | 0.0% | 96.1% |
| 68 | Wadena County, Minnesota | $320,721 | 0.0% | 96.2% |
| 69 | Wabasha County, Minnesota | $308,860 | 0.0% | 96.2% |
| 70 | Benton County, Minnesota | $308,705 | 0.0% | 96.2% |
| 71 | Sherburne County, Minnesota | $300,288 | 0.0% | 96.2% |
| 72 | Isanti County, Minnesota | $291,963 | 0.0% | 96.2% |
| 73 | Winona County, Minnesota | $271,822 | 0.0% | 96.3% |
| 74 | Mille Lacs County, Minnesota | $252,098 | 0.0% | 96.3% |
| 75 | Rock County, Minnesota | $198,345 | 0.0% | 96.3% |
| 76 | Cass County, Minnesota | $197,357 | 0.0% | 96.3% |
| 77 | Houston County, Minnesota | $184,847 | 0.0% | 96.3% |
| 78 | Martin County, Minnesota | $139,609 | 0.0% | 96.3% |
| 79 | Chisago County, Minnesota | $110,176 | 0.0% | 96.3% |
| 80 | Saint Louis County, Minnesota | $104,096 | 0.0% | 96.3% |
| 81 | Anoka County, Minnesota | $102,759 | 0.0% | 96.3% |
| 82 | Itasca County, Minnesota | $89,358 | 0.0% | 96.3% |
| 83 | Crow Wing County, Minnesota | $36,880 | 0.0% | 96.3% |
| 84 | Carlton County, Minnesota | $9,325 | 0.0% | 96.3% |
Source: Environmental Working Group. Compiled from USDA data.
** Crop totals are an estimate. In the data received by EWG for 2009-2011, USDA does not differentiate Direct Payments or Counter-Cyclical Payments by crop as in previous years. EWG allocated the region's Direct Payments by crop for the 2009-2011 calendar year using the proportion of that crop's Direct Payments in 2008. Number of recipients receiving Direct Payments for that crop were not estimated. Due to the way Counter Cyclical Payments are made - EWG was not able to allocate Counter Cyclical Payments to crops. Also included in the crop totals are the crop insurance premiums as reported by the USDA Risk Management Agency for that crop. The crop insurance premium is the amount of money that is calculated by USDA to make the program actuarially sound. Crop insurance premium subsidies are available at the county, state and national level.
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.
