| Rank |
County |
Dairy Program Subsidies
1995-2011 | Pct of
Total | Running
Percentage |
| 1 | Stearns County, Minnesota | $55,117,067 | 14.2% | 14.2% |
| 2 | Winona County, Minnesota | $22,430,589 | 5.8% | 20.0% |
| 3 | Morrison County, Minnesota | $21,957,692 | 5.7% | 25.7% |
| 4 | Otter Tail County, Minnesota | $20,505,779 | 5.3% | 31.0% |
| 5 | Goodhue County, Minnesota | $16,850,717 | 4.4% | 35.4% |
| 6 | Wabasha County, Minnesota | $16,328,392 | 4.2% | 39.6% |
| 7 | Todd County, Minnesota | $14,318,721 | 3.7% | 43.3% |
| 8 | Benton County, Minnesota | $10,485,013 | 2.7% | 46.0% |
| 9 | Carver County, Minnesota | $10,328,325 | 2.7% | 48.7% |
| 10 | Wright County, Minnesota | $9,902,188 | 2.6% | 51.2% |
| 11 | Fillmore County, Minnesota | $9,621,403 | 2.5% | 53.7% |
| 12 | Houston County, Minnesota | $9,046,234 | 2.3% | 56.0% |
| 13 | Olmsted County, Minnesota | $8,315,381 | 2.1% | 58.2% |
| 14 | Douglas County, Minnesota | $7,121,254 | 1.8% | 60.0% |
| 15 | Brown County, Minnesota | $6,988,119 | 1.8% | 61.8% |
| 16 | Kandiyohi County, Minnesota | $6,943,780 | 1.8% | 63.6% |
| 17 | Rice County, Minnesota | $6,640,892 | 1.7% | 65.4% |
| 18 | McLeod County, Minnesota | $6,604,729 | 1.7% | 67.1% |
| 19 | Sibley County, Minnesota | $6,219,052 | 1.6% | 68.7% |
| 20 | Scott County, Minnesota | $5,851,563 | 1.5% | 70.2% |
| 21 | Meeker County, Minnesota | $5,723,727 | 1.5% | 71.7% |
| 22 | Pope County, Minnesota | $5,523,954 | 1.4% | 73.1% |
| 23 | Becker County, Minnesota | $5,054,920 | 1.3% | 74.4% |
| 24 | Pine County, Minnesota | $5,029,810 | 1.3% | 75.7% |
| 25 | Steele County, Minnesota | $4,321,133 | 1.1% | 76.8% |
| 26 | Mower County, Minnesota | $4,242,662 | 1.1% | 77.9% |
| 27 | Nicollet County, Minnesota | $4,234,715 | 1.1% | 79.0% |
| 28 | Dodge County, Minnesota | $4,090,995 | 1.1% | 80.1% |
| 29 | Wadena County, Minnesota | $4,057,782 | 1.0% | 81.1% |
| 30 | Pipestone County, Minnesota | $3,950,629 | 1.0% | 82.1% |
| 31 | Mille Lacs County, Minnesota | $3,696,692 | 1.0% | 83.1% |
| 32 | Dakota County, Minnesota | $3,637,021 | 0.9% | 84.0% |
| 33 | Nobles County, Minnesota | $3,272,509 | 0.8% | 84.9% |
| 34 | Murray County, Minnesota | $3,168,664 | 0.8% | 85.7% |
| 35 | Le Sueur County, Minnesota | $2,892,830 | 0.7% | 86.4% |
| 36 | Rock County, Minnesota | $2,609,252 | 0.7% | 87.1% |
| 37 | Lincoln County, Minnesota | $2,472,513 | 0.6% | 87.7% |
| 38 | Renville County, Minnesota | $2,356,465 | 0.6% | 88.4% |
| 39 | Swift County, Minnesota | $2,107,856 | 0.5% | 88.9% |
| 40 | Chisago County, Minnesota | $2,084,562 | 0.5% | 89.4% |
| 41 | Kanabec County, Minnesota | $1,920,819 | 0.5% | 89.9% |
| 42 | Hennepin County, Minnesota | $1,844,069 | 0.5% | 90.4% |
| 43 | Waseca County, Minnesota | $1,788,191 | 0.5% | 90.9% |
| 44 | Polk County, Minnesota | $1,778,504 | 0.5% | 91.3% |
| 45 | Redwood County, Minnesota | $1,728,879 | 0.4% | 91.8% |
| 46 | Roseau County, Minnesota | $1,720,172 | 0.4% | 92.2% |
| 47 | Beltrami County, Minnesota | $1,503,246 | 0.4% | 92.6% |
| 48 | Yellow Medicine County, Minnesota | $1,458,938 | 0.4% | 93.0% |
| 49 | Faribault County, Minnesota | $1,433,635 | 0.4% | 93.4% |
| 50 | Cottonwood County, Minnesota | $1,354,592 | 0.4% | 93.7% |
| 51 | Freeborn County, Minnesota | $1,341,705 | 0.3% | 94.1% |
| 52 | Carlton County, Minnesota | $1,337,498 | 0.3% | 94.4% |
| 53 | Mahnomen County, Minnesota | $1,330,257 | 0.3% | 94.7% |
| 54 | Cass County, Minnesota | $1,154,138 | 0.3% | 95.0% |
| 55 | Crow Wing County, Minnesota | $1,123,653 | 0.3% | 95.3% |
| 56 | Lyon County, Minnesota | $1,078,959 | 0.3% | 95.6% |
| 57 | Clay County, Minnesota | $1,063,048 | 0.3% | 95.9% |
| 58 | Lac qui Parle County, Minnesota | $1,059,418 | 0.3% | 96.2% |
| 59 | Martin County, Minnesota | $1,019,560 | 0.3% | 96.4% |
| 60 | Saint Louis County, Minnesota | $1,012,121 | 0.3% | 96.7% |
| 61 | Stevens County, Minnesota | $970,859 | 0.3% | 96.9% |
| 62 | Washington County, Minnesota | $945,519 | 0.2% | 97.2% |
| 63 | Red Lake County, Minnesota | $925,831 | 0.2% | 97.4% |
| 64 | Norman County, Minnesota | $914,374 | 0.2% | 97.7% |
| 65 | Grant County, Minnesota | $743,096 | 0.2% | 97.8% |
| 66 | Blue Earth County, Minnesota | $721,313 | 0.2% | 98.0% |
| 67 | Watonwan County, Minnesota | $716,115 | 0.2% | 98.2% |
| 68 | Isanti County, Minnesota | $713,606 | 0.2% | 98.4% |
| 69 | Clearwater County, Minnesota | $706,112 | 0.2% | 98.6% |
| 70 | Sherburne County, Minnesota | $655,361 | 0.2% | 98.8% |
| 71 | Wilkin County, Minnesota | $577,117 | 0.1% | 98.9% |
| 72 | Aitkin County, Minnesota | $572,677 | 0.1% | 99.1% |
| 73 | Big Stone County, Minnesota | $557,645 | 0.1% | 99.2% |
| 74 | Marshall County, Minnesota | $532,963 | 0.1% | 99.3% |
| 75 | Hubbard County, Minnesota | $481,537 | 0.1% | 99.5% |
| 76 | Jackson County, Minnesota | $411,150 | 0.1% | 99.6% |
| 77 | Pennington County, Minnesota | $340,494 | 0.1% | 99.7% |
| 78 | Kittson County, Minnesota | $314,394 | 0.1% | 99.7% |
| 79 | Chippewa County, Minnesota | $309,591 | 0.1% | 99.8% |
| 80 | Koochiching County, Minnesota | $244,447 | 0.1% | 99.9% |
| 81 | Anoka County, Minnesota | $184,113 | 0.0% | 99.9% |
| 82 | Itasca County, Minnesota | $141,996 | 0.0% | 100.0% |
| 83 | Lake of the Woods County, Minnesota | $55,453 | 0.0% | 100.0% |
| 84 | Traverse County, Minnesota | $15,316 | 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.
