| Rank |
County |
Agricultural Conservation Program
1995-2012 | Pct of
Total | Running
Percentage |
| 1 | Cascade County, Montana | $526,858 | 6.1% | 6.1% |
| 2 | Pondera County, Montana | $373,325 | 4.3% | 10.5% |
| 3 | Rosebud County, Montana | $350,752 | 4.1% | 14.5% |
| 4 | Glacier County, Montana | $325,329 | 3.8% | 18.3% |
| 5 | Teton County, Montana | $317,999 | 3.7% | 22.0% |
| 6 | Yellowstone County, Montana | $310,026 | 3.6% | 25.6% |
| 7 | Carbon County, Montana | $302,231 | 3.5% | 29.1% |
| 8 | Blaine County, Montana | $299,641 | 3.5% | 32.6% |
| 9 | Beaverhead County, Montana | $269,791 | 3.1% | 35.7% |
| 10 | Phillips County, Montana | $250,456 | 2.9% | 38.6% |
| 11 | Big Horn County, Montana | $241,306 | 2.8% | 41.4% |
| 12 | Madison County, Montana | $222,172 | 2.6% | 44.0% |
| 13 | Carter County, Montana | $217,276 | 2.5% | 46.5% |
| 14 | Lake County, Montana | $213,993 | 2.5% | 49.0% |
| 15 | Custer County, Montana | $207,100 | 2.4% | 51.4% |
| 16 | Dawson County, Montana | $206,786 | 2.4% | 53.8% |
| 17 | Fergus County, Montana | $205,206 | 2.4% | 56.2% |
| 18 | Richland County, Montana | $202,606 | 2.4% | 58.6% |
| 19 | Gallatin County, Montana | $192,793 | 2.2% | 60.8% |
| 20 | Prairie County, Montana | $191,886 | 2.2% | 63.0% |
| 21 | Valley County, Montana | $184,297 | 2.1% | 65.2% |
| 22 | Roosevelt County, Montana | $181,509 | 2.1% | 67.3% |
| 23 | Chouteau County, Montana | $180,488 | 2.1% | 69.4% |
| 24 | Sweet Grass County, Montana | $176,669 | 2.1% | 71.4% |
| 25 | Stillwater County, Montana | $146,648 | 1.7% | 73.2% |
| 26 | Granite County, Montana | $145,495 | 1.7% | 74.8% |
| 27 | Powell County, Montana | $141,497 | 1.6% | 76.5% |
| 28 | Fallon County, Montana | $136,905 | 1.6% | 78.1% |
| 29 | Golden Valley County, Montana | $127,356 | 1.5% | 79.6% |
| 30 | Powder River County, Montana | $127,178 | 1.5% | 81.0% |
| 31 | Musselshell County, Montana | $125,477 | 1.5% | 82.5% |
| 32 | Hill County, Montana | $108,463 | 1.3% | 83.8% |
| 33 | Ravalli County, Montana | $101,292 | 1.2% | 84.9% |
| 34 | Meagher County, Montana | $99,761 | 1.2% | 86.1% |
| 35 | Judith Basin County, Montana | $95,028 | 1.1% | 87.2% |
| 36 | Garfield County, Montana | $92,684 | 1.1% | 88.3% |
| 37 | Sheridan County, Montana | $90,198 | 1.0% | 89.3% |
| 38 | Sanders County, Montana | $84,777 | 1.0% | 90.3% |
| 39 | Petroleum County, Montana | $84,144 | 1.0% | 91.3% |
| 40 | Treasure County, Montana | $70,963 | 0.8% | 92.1% |
| 41 | Toole County, Montana | $70,767 | 0.8% | 92.9% |
| 42 | Missoula County, Montana | $70,475 | 0.8% | 93.7% |
| 43 | Wibaux County, Montana | $56,450 | 0.7% | 94.4% |
| 44 | Park County, Montana | $50,507 | 0.6% | 95.0% |
| 45 | McCone County, Montana | $50,138 | 0.6% | 95.6% |
| 46 | Jefferson County, Montana | $49,703 | 0.6% | 96.1% |
| 47 | Wheatland County, Montana | $47,872 | 0.6% | 96.7% |
| 48 | Liberty County, Montana | $43,328 | 0.5% | 97.2% |
| 49 | Broadwater County, Montana | $42,929 | 0.5% | 97.7% |
| 50 | Lewis and Clark County, Montana | $38,561 | 0.4% | 98.2% |
| 51 | Daniels County, Montana | $34,327 | 0.4% | 98.5% |
| 52 | Silver Bow County, Montana | $32,810 | 0.4% | 98.9% |
| 53 | Lincoln County, Montana | $28,951 | 0.3% | 99.3% |
| 54 | Deer Lodge County, Montana | $28,837 | 0.3% | 99.6% |
| 55 | Mineral County, Montana | $19,998 | 0.2% | 99.8% |
| 56 | Flathead County, Montana | $14,323 | 0.2% | 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.
