| Rank |
County |
Subtotal, Disaster Payments
1995-2012 | Pct of
Total | Running
Percentage |
| 1 | Marshall County, Minnesota | $68,556,153 | 9.5% | 9.5% |
| 2 | Polk County, Minnesota | $54,308,843 | 7.5% | 17.0% |
| 3 | Kittson County, Minnesota | $41,776,571 | 5.8% | 22.7% |
| 4 | Roseau County, Minnesota | $38,079,632 | 5.3% | 28.0% |
| 5 | Norman County, Minnesota | $32,898,951 | 4.5% | 32.5% |
| 6 | Clay County, Minnesota | $26,403,953 | 3.6% | 36.2% |
| 7 | Pennington County, Minnesota | $25,351,810 | 3.5% | 39.7% |
| 8 | Stearns County, Minnesota | $23,349,058 | 3.2% | 42.9% |
| 9 | Otter Tail County, Minnesota | $18,840,149 | 2.6% | 45.5% |
| 10 | Traverse County, Minnesota | $18,027,815 | 2.5% | 48.0% |
| 11 | Wilkin County, Minnesota | $17,406,224 | 2.4% | 50.4% |
| 12 | Lac qui Parle County, Minnesota | $17,337,834 | 2.4% | 52.8% |
| 13 | Morrison County, Minnesota | $15,370,957 | 2.1% | 54.9% |
| 14 | Becker County, Minnesota | $13,674,447 | 1.9% | 56.8% |
| 15 | Mahnomen County, Minnesota | $11,767,496 | 1.6% | 58.4% |
| 16 | Mower County, Minnesota | $10,762,368 | 1.5% | 59.9% |
| 17 | Yellow Medicine County, Minnesota | $10,372,397 | 1.4% | 61.3% |
| 18 | Red Lake County, Minnesota | $10,191,551 | 1.4% | 62.7% |
| 19 | Todd County, Minnesota | $9,987,815 | 1.4% | 64.1% |
| 20 | Big Stone County, Minnesota | $9,845,775 | 1.4% | 65.5% |
| 21 | Grant County, Minnesota | $9,657,421 | 1.3% | 66.8% |
| 22 | Renville County, Minnesota | $9,354,726 | 1.3% | 68.1% |
| 23 | Benton County, Minnesota | $9,255,827 | 1.3% | 69.4% |
| 24 | Swift County, Minnesota | $8,995,391 | 1.2% | 70.6% |
| 25 | Chippewa County, Minnesota | $8,949,780 | 1.2% | 71.9% |
| 26 | Freeborn County, Minnesota | $8,660,516 | 1.2% | 73.1% |
| 27 | Fillmore County, Minnesota | $8,234,278 | 1.1% | 74.2% |
| 28 | Wright County, Minnesota | $7,419,163 | 1.0% | 75.2% |
| 29 | Beltrami County, Minnesota | $6,663,868 | 0.9% | 76.1% |
| 30 | Dakota County, Minnesota | $6,391,663 | 0.9% | 77.0% |
| 31 | Stevens County, Minnesota | $6,100,328 | 0.8% | 77.9% |
| 32 | Pope County, Minnesota | $6,033,983 | 0.8% | 78.7% |
| 33 | Kandiyohi County, Minnesota | $5,616,279 | 0.8% | 79.5% |
| 34 | Faribault County, Minnesota | $5,592,135 | 0.8% | 80.2% |
| 35 | Redwood County, Minnesota | $5,443,299 | 0.8% | 81.0% |
| 36 | Nobles County, Minnesota | $5,308,571 | 0.7% | 81.7% |
| 37 | Meeker County, Minnesota | $5,169,019 | 0.7% | 82.4% |
| 38 | Brown County, Minnesota | $4,929,245 | 0.7% | 83.1% |
| 39 | Lake of the Woods County, Minnesota | $4,912,596 | 0.7% | 83.8% |
| 40 | Clearwater County, Minnesota | $4,795,893 | 0.7% | 84.5% |
| 41 | Martin County, Minnesota | $4,482,607 | 0.6% | 85.1% |
| 42 | Lincoln County, Minnesota | $4,436,614 | 0.6% | 85.7% |
| 43 | Sibley County, Minnesota | $4,306,895 | 0.6% | 86.3% |
| 44 | Jackson County, Minnesota | $4,117,257 | 0.6% | 86.9% |
| 45 | McLeod County, Minnesota | $3,936,524 | 0.5% | 87.4% |
| 46 | Douglas County, Minnesota | $3,863,589 | 0.5% | 87.9% |
| 47 | Goodhue County, Minnesota | $3,813,535 | 0.5% | 88.5% |
| 48 | Cass County, Minnesota | $3,733,771 | 0.5% | 89.0% |
| 49 | Lyon County, Minnesota | $3,432,904 | 0.5% | 89.4% |
| 50 | Wadena County, Minnesota | $3,250,232 | 0.4% | 89.9% |
| 51 | Wabasha County, Minnesota | $3,131,329 | 0.4% | 90.3% |
| 52 | Sherburne County, Minnesota | $3,129,607 | 0.4% | 90.8% |
| 53 | Hubbard County, Minnesota | $3,058,816 | 0.4% | 91.2% |
| 54 | Olmsted County, Minnesota | $2,936,804 | 0.4% | 91.6% |
| 55 | Chisago County, Minnesota | $2,919,010 | 0.4% | 92.0% |
| 56 | Pipestone County, Minnesota | $2,895,466 | 0.4% | 92.4% |
| 57 | Blue Earth County, Minnesota | $2,863,043 | 0.4% | 92.8% |
| 58 | Murray County, Minnesota | $2,787,773 | 0.4% | 93.2% |
| 59 | Rock County, Minnesota | $2,739,470 | 0.4% | 93.5% |
| 60 | Washington County, Minnesota | $2,644,898 | 0.4% | 93.9% |
| 61 | Houston County, Minnesota | $2,644,501 | 0.4% | 94.3% |
| 62 | Mille Lacs County, Minnesota | $2,641,634 | 0.4% | 94.6% |
| 63 | Scott County, Minnesota | $2,632,893 | 0.4% | 95.0% |
| 64 | Isanti County, Minnesota | $2,387,724 | 0.3% | 95.3% |
| 65 | Steele County, Minnesota | $2,230,056 | 0.3% | 95.6% |
| 66 | Cottonwood County, Minnesota | $2,222,214 | 0.3% | 95.9% |
| 67 | Hennepin County, Minnesota | $2,214,541 | 0.3% | 96.3% |
| 68 | Pine County, Minnesota | $2,189,629 | 0.3% | 96.6% |
| 69 | Carver County, Minnesota | $2,179,382 | 0.3% | 96.9% |
| 70 | Kanabec County, Minnesota | $2,039,809 | 0.3% | 97.1% |
| 71 | Le Sueur County, Minnesota | $1,935,726 | 0.3% | 97.4% |
| 72 | Rice County, Minnesota | $1,924,242 | 0.3% | 97.7% |
| 73 | Aitkin County, Minnesota | $1,919,765 | 0.3% | 97.9% |
| 74 | Dodge County, Minnesota | $1,905,764 | 0.3% | 98.2% |
| 75 | Winona County, Minnesota | $1,874,221 | 0.3% | 98.5% |
| 76 | Waseca County, Minnesota | $1,803,094 | 0.2% | 98.7% |
| 77 | Crow Wing County, Minnesota | $1,724,782 | 0.2% | 98.9% |
| 78 | Nicollet County, Minnesota | $1,605,504 | 0.2% | 99.2% |
| 79 | Anoka County, Minnesota | $1,359,773 | 0.2% | 99.4% |
| 80 | Watonwan County, Minnesota | $1,354,864 | 0.2% | 99.5% |
| 81 | Koochiching County, Minnesota | $1,125,844 | 0.2% | 99.7% |
| 82 | Itasca County, Minnesota | $816,442 | 0.1% | 99.8% |
| 83 | Saint Louis County, Minnesota | $726,954 | 0.1% | 99.9% |
| 84 | Carlton County, Minnesota | $616,857 | 0.1% | 100.0% |
| 85 | Cook County, Minnesota | $32,139 | 0.0% | 100.0% |
| 86 | Lake County, Minnesota | $838 | 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.
