| Rank |
County |
Conservation Reserve Program
1995-2012 | Pct of
Total | Running
Percentage |
| 1 | Marshall County, Minnesota | $146,782,407 | 7.9% | 7.9% |
| 2 | Polk County, Minnesota | $123,545,423 | 6.7% | 14.6% |
| 3 | Roseau County, Minnesota | $86,678,519 | 4.7% | 19.3% |
| 4 | Kittson County, Minnesota | $74,908,345 | 4.0% | 23.3% |
| 5 | Otter Tail County, Minnesota | $66,781,323 | 3.6% | 26.9% |
| 6 | Kandiyohi County, Minnesota | $53,061,681 | 2.9% | 29.8% |
| 7 | Pennington County, Minnesota | $52,844,893 | 2.9% | 32.6% |
| 8 | Lincoln County, Minnesota | $51,957,159 | 2.8% | 35.4% |
| 9 | Norman County, Minnesota | $47,361,356 | 2.6% | 38.0% |
| 10 | Lac qui Parle County, Minnesota | $47,322,921 | 2.6% | 40.5% |
| 11 | Swift County, Minnesota | $46,448,459 | 2.5% | 43.0% |
| 12 | Pope County, Minnesota | $41,642,104 | 2.2% | 45.3% |
| 13 | Clay County, Minnesota | $40,743,220 | 2.2% | 47.5% |
| 14 | Fillmore County, Minnesota | $37,143,765 | 2.0% | 49.5% |
| 15 | Grant County, Minnesota | $36,278,212 | 2.0% | 51.4% |
| 16 | Stearns County, Minnesota | $36,117,088 | 1.9% | 53.4% |
| 17 | Yellow Medicine County, Minnesota | $35,420,857 | 1.9% | 55.3% |
| 18 | Red Lake County, Minnesota | $33,961,347 | 1.8% | 57.1% |
| 19 | Murray County, Minnesota | $32,123,035 | 1.7% | 58.9% |
| 20 | Le Sueur County, Minnesota | $31,707,880 | 1.7% | 60.6% |
| 21 | Douglas County, Minnesota | $30,343,830 | 1.6% | 62.2% |
| 22 | Rice County, Minnesota | $28,111,628 | 1.5% | 63.7% |
| 23 | Becker County, Minnesota | $27,446,825 | 1.5% | 65.2% |
| 24 | Redwood County, Minnesota | $26,960,868 | 1.5% | 66.7% |
| 25 | Lyon County, Minnesota | $25,702,346 | 1.4% | 68.1% |
| 26 | Houston County, Minnesota | $25,046,113 | 1.4% | 69.4% |
| 27 | Freeborn County, Minnesota | $24,142,608 | 1.3% | 70.7% |
| 28 | Chippewa County, Minnesota | $24,104,688 | 1.3% | 72.0% |
| 29 | Meeker County, Minnesota | $23,819,144 | 1.3% | 73.3% |
| 30 | Brown County, Minnesota | $23,020,027 | 1.2% | 74.5% |
| 31 | Olmsted County, Minnesota | $22,506,478 | 1.2% | 75.7% |
| 32 | Renville County, Minnesota | $22,362,620 | 1.2% | 77.0% |
| 33 | Stevens County, Minnesota | $22,234,176 | 1.2% | 78.2% |
| 34 | Cottonwood County, Minnesota | $22,047,692 | 1.2% | 79.3% |
| 35 | Steele County, Minnesota | $21,424,769 | 1.2% | 80.5% |
| 36 | Traverse County, Minnesota | $19,826,156 | 1.1% | 81.6% |
| 37 | Blue Earth County, Minnesota | $19,785,664 | 1.1% | 82.6% |
| 38 | Mahnomen County, Minnesota | $18,157,145 | 1.0% | 83.6% |
| 39 | Wilkin County, Minnesota | $17,391,414 | 0.9% | 84.6% |
| 40 | Waseca County, Minnesota | $17,308,269 | 0.9% | 85.5% |
| 41 | Goodhue County, Minnesota | $16,243,591 | 0.9% | 86.4% |
| 42 | Wabasha County, Minnesota | $16,217,707 | 0.9% | 87.2% |
| 43 | Winona County, Minnesota | $15,574,680 | 0.8% | 88.1% |
| 44 | Jackson County, Minnesota | $15,544,068 | 0.8% | 88.9% |
| 45 | Pipestone County, Minnesota | $15,223,521 | 0.8% | 89.7% |
| 46 | Mower County, Minnesota | $13,644,443 | 0.7% | 90.5% |
| 47 | Nobles County, Minnesota | $13,203,564 | 0.7% | 91.2% |
| 48 | Todd County, Minnesota | $12,020,330 | 0.6% | 91.8% |
| 49 | Martin County, Minnesota | $11,605,740 | 0.6% | 92.5% |
| 50 | Big Stone County, Minnesota | $11,550,993 | 0.6% | 93.1% |
| 51 | Watonwan County, Minnesota | $10,590,260 | 0.6% | 93.7% |
| 52 | Faribault County, Minnesota | $10,509,756 | 0.6% | 94.2% |
| 53 | McLeod County, Minnesota | $10,303,304 | 0.6% | 94.8% |
| 54 | Beltrami County, Minnesota | $9,579,217 | 0.5% | 95.3% |
| 55 | Wright County, Minnesota | $9,261,424 | 0.5% | 95.8% |
| 56 | Nicollet County, Minnesota | $7,985,842 | 0.4% | 96.2% |
| 57 | Dakota County, Minnesota | $7,210,268 | 0.4% | 96.6% |
| 58 | Morrison County, Minnesota | $7,057,076 | 0.4% | 97.0% |
| 59 | Dodge County, Minnesota | $6,966,602 | 0.4% | 97.4% |
| 60 | Clearwater County, Minnesota | $6,683,116 | 0.4% | 97.7% |
| 61 | Sibley County, Minnesota | $6,605,758 | 0.4% | 98.1% |
| 62 | Carver County, Minnesota | $5,685,691 | 0.3% | 98.4% |
| 63 | Scott County, Minnesota | $5,024,062 | 0.3% | 98.7% |
| 64 | Rock County, Minnesota | $3,951,946 | 0.2% | 98.9% |
| 65 | Wadena County, Minnesota | $3,531,724 | 0.2% | 99.1% |
| 66 | Lake of the Woods County, Minnesota | $2,550,513 | 0.1% | 99.2% |
| 67 | Benton County, Minnesota | $2,361,893 | 0.1% | 99.3% |
| 68 | Hubbard County, Minnesota | $1,855,705 | 0.1% | 99.4% |
| 69 | Hennepin County, Minnesota | $1,305,736 | 0.1% | 99.5% |
| 70 | Isanti County, Minnesota | $1,296,788 | 0.1% | 99.6% |
| 71 | Sherburne County, Minnesota | $1,041,482 | 0.1% | 99.6% |
| 72 | Chisago County, Minnesota | $1,040,523 | 0.1% | 99.7% |
| 73 | Washington County, Minnesota | $776,449 | 0.0% | 99.7% |
| 74 | Aitkin County, Minnesota | $733,182 | 0.0% | 99.8% |
| 75 | Mille Lacs County, Minnesota | $693,380 | 0.0% | 99.8% |
| 76 | Itasca County, Minnesota | $680,584 | 0.0% | 99.8% |
| 77 | Cass County, Minnesota | $632,567 | 0.0% | 99.9% |
| 78 | Crow Wing County, Minnesota | $437,368 | 0.0% | 99.9% |
| 79 | Kanabec County, Minnesota | $421,535 | 0.0% | 99.9% |
| 80 | Carlton County, Minnesota | $336,894 | 0.0% | 99.9% |
| 81 | Koochiching County, Minnesota | $331,820 | 0.0% | 100.0% |
| 82 | Anoka County, Minnesota | $277,350 | 0.0% | 100.0% |
| 83 | Pine County, Minnesota | $248,147 | 0.0% | 100.0% |
| 84 | Saint Louis County, Minnesota | $178,826 | 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.
