| Rank |
County |
Subtotal, Conservation Programs
1995-2011 | Pct of
Total | Running
Percentage |
| 1 | Marshall County, Minnesota | $139,158,748 | 7.1% | 7.1% |
| 2 | Minnesota NRCS | $131,618,206 | 6.7% | 13.8% |
| 3 | Polk County, Minnesota | $124,653,236 | 6.4% | 20.1% |
| 4 | Roseau County, Minnesota | $82,728,229 | 4.2% | 24.4% |
| 5 | Kittson County, Minnesota | $70,634,222 | 3.6% | 28.0% |
| 6 | Otter Tail County, Minnesota | $64,724,184 | 3.3% | 31.3% |
| 7 | Lincoln County, Minnesota | $51,104,924 | 2.6% | 33.9% |
| 8 | Pennington County, Minnesota | $50,702,822 | 2.6% | 36.4% |
| 9 | Kandiyohi County, Minnesota | $50,299,869 | 2.6% | 39.0% |
| 10 | Norman County, Minnesota | $47,066,124 | 2.4% | 41.4% |
| 11 | Lac qui Parle County, Minnesota | $45,272,987 | 2.3% | 43.7% |
| 12 | Swift County, Minnesota | $44,459,898 | 2.3% | 46.0% |
| 13 | Clay County, Minnesota | $40,326,966 | 2.1% | 48.0% |
| 14 | Stearns County, Minnesota | $40,272,473 | 2.1% | 50.1% |
| 15 | Pope County, Minnesota | $40,153,831 | 2.0% | 52.1% |
| 16 | Fillmore County, Minnesota | $38,224,876 | 1.9% | 54.1% |
| 17 | Grant County, Minnesota | $34,555,419 | 1.8% | 55.8% |
| 18 | Yellow Medicine County, Minnesota | $34,351,025 | 1.7% | 57.6% |
| 19 | Red Lake County, Minnesota | $33,069,859 | 1.7% | 59.3% |
| 20 | Murray County, Minnesota | $31,258,755 | 1.6% | 60.9% |
| 21 | Le Sueur County, Minnesota | $30,551,755 | 1.6% | 62.4% |
| 22 | Douglas County, Minnesota | $29,226,384 | 1.5% | 63.9% |
| 23 | Rice County, Minnesota | $28,728,646 | 1.5% | 65.4% |
| 24 | Becker County, Minnesota | $26,953,757 | 1.4% | 66.7% |
| 25 | Redwood County, Minnesota | $25,936,195 | 1.3% | 68.1% |
| 26 | Houston County, Minnesota | $25,645,652 | 1.3% | 69.4% |
| 27 | Lyon County, Minnesota | $25,618,591 | 1.3% | 70.7% |
| 28 | Freeborn County, Minnesota | $25,041,325 | 1.3% | 71.9% |
| 29 | Olmsted County, Minnesota | $24,391,731 | 1.2% | 73.2% |
| 30 | Chippewa County, Minnesota | $22,750,996 | 1.2% | 74.3% |
| 31 | Meeker County, Minnesota | $22,595,215 | 1.2% | 75.5% |
| 32 | Stevens County, Minnesota | $21,874,509 | 1.1% | 76.6% |
| 33 | Brown County, Minnesota | $21,732,119 | 1.1% | 77.7% |
| 34 | Renville County, Minnesota | $21,729,840 | 1.1% | 78.8% |
| 35 | Steele County, Minnesota | $21,396,525 | 1.1% | 79.9% |
| 36 | Cottonwood County, Minnesota | $21,034,349 | 1.1% | 81.0% |
| 37 | Blue Earth County, Minnesota | $19,363,783 | 1.0% | 82.0% |
| 38 | Traverse County, Minnesota | $18,799,239 | 1.0% | 82.9% |
| 39 | Mahnomen County, Minnesota | $17,867,870 | 0.9% | 83.8% |
| 40 | Winona County, Minnesota | $17,520,586 | 0.9% | 84.7% |
| 41 | Wabasha County, Minnesota | $17,367,228 | 0.9% | 85.6% |
| 42 | Wilkin County, Minnesota | $17,363,721 | 0.9% | 86.5% |
| 43 | Waseca County, Minnesota | $16,875,896 | 0.9% | 87.4% |
| 44 | Goodhue County, Minnesota | $16,835,676 | 0.9% | 88.2% |
| 45 | Pipestone County, Minnesota | $15,379,073 | 0.8% | 89.0% |
| 46 | Jackson County, Minnesota | $14,966,590 | 0.8% | 89.8% |
| 47 | Mower County, Minnesota | $14,174,684 | 0.7% | 90.5% |
| 48 | Nobles County, Minnesota | $13,150,088 | 0.7% | 91.2% |
| 49 | Todd County, Minnesota | $12,713,288 | 0.6% | 91.8% |
| 50 | Big Stone County, Minnesota | $11,439,752 | 0.6% | 92.4% |
| 51 | Martin County, Minnesota | $11,279,433 | 0.6% | 93.0% |
| 52 | Watonwan County, Minnesota | $10,306,996 | 0.5% | 93.5% |
| 53 | Faribault County, Minnesota | $10,191,349 | 0.5% | 94.0% |
| 54 | Beltrami County, Minnesota | $9,798,288 | 0.5% | 94.5% |
| 55 | McLeod County, Minnesota | $9,755,634 | 0.5% | 95.0% |
| 56 | Wright County, Minnesota | $8,960,147 | 0.5% | 95.5% |
| 57 | Morrison County, Minnesota | $8,157,919 | 0.4% | 95.9% |
| 58 | Nicollet County, Minnesota | $7,908,361 | 0.4% | 96.3% |
| 59 | Dakota County, Minnesota | $7,845,181 | 0.4% | 96.7% |
| 60 | Dodge County, Minnesota | $7,288,489 | 0.4% | 97.1% |
| 61 | Sibley County, Minnesota | $6,918,105 | 0.4% | 97.4% |
| 62 | Clearwater County, Minnesota | $6,680,177 | 0.3% | 97.7% |
| 63 | Carver County, Minnesota | $5,722,717 | 0.3% | 98.0% |
| 64 | Scott County, Minnesota | $5,052,070 | 0.3% | 98.3% |
| 65 | Rock County, Minnesota | $4,830,456 | 0.2% | 98.5% |
| 66 | Wadena County, Minnesota | $4,213,345 | 0.2% | 98.8% |
| 67 | Lake of the Woods County, Minnesota | $2,859,104 | 0.1% | 98.9% |
| 68 | Benton County, Minnesota | $2,814,174 | 0.1% | 99.0% |
| 69 | Hubbard County, Minnesota | $2,170,071 | 0.1% | 99.2% |
| 70 | Isanti County, Minnesota | $1,630,147 | 0.1% | 99.2% |
| 71 | Hennepin County, Minnesota | $1,446,080 | 0.1% | 99.3% |
| 72 | Pine County, Minnesota | $1,435,757 | 0.1% | 99.4% |
| 73 | Sherburne County, Minnesota | $1,350,275 | 0.1% | 99.5% |
| 74 | Chisago County, Minnesota | $1,302,403 | 0.1% | 99.5% |
| 75 | Mille Lacs County, Minnesota | $1,252,273 | 0.1% | 99.6% |
| 76 | Cass County, Minnesota | $1,209,101 | 0.1% | 99.6% |
| 77 | Carlton County, Minnesota | $1,034,236 | 0.1% | 99.7% |
| 78 | Washington County, Minnesota | $1,025,399 | 0.1% | 99.8% |
| 79 | Aitkin County, Minnesota | $956,688 | 0.0% | 99.8% |
| 80 | Itasca County, Minnesota | $944,215 | 0.0% | 99.8% |
| 81 | Crow Wing County, Minnesota | $784,778 | 0.0% | 99.9% |
| 82 | Saint Louis County, Minnesota | $703,468 | 0.0% | 99.9% |
| 83 | Kanabec County, Minnesota | $538,626 | 0.0% | 100.0% |
| 84 | Koochiching County, Minnesota | $499,477 | 0.0% | 100.0% |
| 85 | Anoka County, Minnesota | $300,108 | 0.0% | 100.0% |
| 86 | Cook County, Minnesota | $111,615 | 0.0% | 100.0% |
| 87 | Lake County, Minnesota | $51,327 | 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.
