| Rank |
County |
Wool Subsidies 1995-2012 | Pct of Total | Running Percentage |
| 1 | Buffalo County, Nebraska | $152,907 | 7.4% | 7.4% |
| 2 | Custer County, Nebraska | $124,144 | 6.0% | 13.4% |
| 3 | Dawes County, Nebraska | $102,154 | 5.0% | 18.4% |
| 4 | Clay County, Nebraska | $82,999 | 4.0% | 22.4% |
| 5 | Sheridan County, Nebraska | $79,340 | 3.8% | 26.2% |
| 6 | Scotts Bluff County, Nebraska | $77,123 | 3.7% | 30.0% |
| 7 | Kimball County, Nebraska | $54,230 | 2.6% | 32.6% |
| 8 | Sherman County, Nebraska | $53,221 | 2.6% | 35.2% |
| 9 | Pawnee County, Nebraska | $49,049 | 2.4% | 37.6% |
| 10 | Knox County, Nebraska | $44,554 | 2.2% | 39.7% |
| 11 | Hall County, Nebraska | $43,122 | 2.1% | 41.8% |
| 12 | Holt County, Nebraska | $40,146 | 1.9% | 43.8% |
| 13 | Saline County, Nebraska | $40,012 | 1.9% | 45.7% |
| 14 | Madison County, Nebraska | $38,957 | 1.9% | 47.6% |
| 15 | Dixon County, Nebraska | $36,909 | 1.8% | 49.4% |
| 16 | Cuming County, Nebraska | $36,647 | 1.8% | 51.2% |
| 17 | Washington County, Nebraska | $36,611 | 1.8% | 52.9% |
| 18 | Cedar County, Nebraska | $34,951 | 1.7% | 54.6% |
| 19 | Sioux County, Nebraska | $34,758 | 1.7% | 56.3% |
| 20 | Butler County, Nebraska | $30,558 | 1.5% | 57.8% |
| 21 | Platte County, Nebraska | $29,829 | 1.4% | 59.2% |
| 22 | Pierce County, Nebraska | $29,141 | 1.4% | 60.6% |
| 23 | Lincoln County, Nebraska | $28,146 | 1.4% | 62.0% |
| 24 | Dawson County, Nebraska | $28,068 | 1.4% | 63.4% |
| 25 | Nuckolls County, Nebraska | $27,940 | 1.4% | 64.7% |
| 26 | Saunders County, Nebraska | $27,867 | 1.4% | 66.1% |
| 27 | Phelps County, Nebraska | $27,104 | 1.3% | 67.4% |
| 28 | Lancaster County, Nebraska | $26,252 | 1.3% | 68.7% |
| 29 | Brown County, Nebraska | $24,544 | 1.2% | 69.8% |
| 30 | Harlan County, Nebraska | $22,608 | 1.1% | 70.9% |
| 31 | Wayne County, Nebraska | $21,287 | 1.0% | 72.0% |
| 32 | Valley County, Nebraska | $21,268 | 1.0% | 73.0% |
| 33 | Rock County, Nebraska | $19,633 | 1.0% | 74.0% |
| 34 | Richardson County, Nebraska | $19,563 | 0.9% | 74.9% |
| 35 | Antelope County, Nebraska | $19,496 | 0.9% | 75.8% |
| 36 | Jefferson County, Nebraska | $19,077 | 0.9% | 76.8% |
| 37 | Greeley County, Nebraska | $18,792 | 0.9% | 77.7% |
| 38 | Box Butte County, Nebraska | $18,347 | 0.9% | 78.6% |
| 39 | Boyd County, Nebraska | $18,131 | 0.9% | 79.5% |
| 40 | York County, Nebraska | $17,562 | 0.9% | 80.3% |
| 41 | Stanton County, Nebraska | $17,514 | 0.8% | 81.2% |
| 42 | Otoe County, Nebraska | $16,943 | 0.8% | 82.0% |
| 43 | Fillmore County, Nebraska | $16,436 | 0.8% | 82.8% |
| 44 | Thurston County, Nebraska | $16,367 | 0.8% | 83.6% |
| 45 | Seward County, Nebraska | $16,206 | 0.8% | 84.3% |
| 46 | Adams County, Nebraska | $16,117 | 0.8% | 85.1% |
| 47 | Banner County, Nebraska | $14,777 | 0.7% | 85.8% |
| 48 | Gage County, Nebraska | $14,456 | 0.7% | 86.5% |
| 49 | Howard County, Nebraska | $13,982 | 0.7% | 87.2% |
| 50 | Thayer County, Nebraska | $13,634 | 0.7% | 87.9% |
| 51 | Dodge County, Nebraska | $13,562 | 0.7% | 88.5% |
| 52 | Webster County, Nebraska | $12,029 | 0.6% | 89.1% |
| 53 | Cheyenne County, Nebraska | $10,861 | 0.5% | 89.6% |
| 54 | Hamilton County, Nebraska | $10,725 | 0.5% | 90.2% |
| 55 | Morrill County, Nebraska | $10,438 | 0.5% | 90.7% |
| 56 | Wheeler County, Nebraska | $10,398 | 0.5% | 91.2% |
| 57 | Colfax County, Nebraska | $10,224 | 0.5% | 91.7% |
| 58 | Franklin County, Nebraska | $9,681 | 0.5% | 92.1% |
| 59 | Garden County, Nebraska | $9,246 | 0.4% | 92.6% |
| 60 | Perkins County, Nebraska | $9,035 | 0.4% | 93.0% |
| 61 | Burt County, Nebraska | $9,030 | 0.4% | 93.5% |
| 62 | Keya Paha County, Nebraska | $8,364 | 0.4% | 93.9% |
| 63 | Boone County, Nebraska | $8,227 | 0.4% | 94.3% |
| 64 | Kearney County, Nebraska | $7,949 | 0.4% | 94.7% |
| 65 | Chase County, Nebraska | $7,616 | 0.4% | 95.0% |
| 66 | Sarpy County, Nebraska | $6,683 | 0.3% | 95.3% |
| 67 | Nemaha County, Nebraska | $6,520 | 0.3% | 95.7% |
| 68 | Dakota County, Nebraska | $6,504 | 0.3% | 96.0% |
| 69 | Frontier County, Nebraska | $6,360 | 0.3% | 96.3% |
| 70 | Dundy County, Nebraska | $5,731 | 0.3% | 96.6% |
| 71 | Johnson County, Nebraska | $5,689 | 0.3% | 96.8% |
| 72 | Cass County, Nebraska | $5,515 | 0.3% | 97.1% |
| 73 | Loup County, Nebraska | $5,195 | 0.3% | 97.4% |
| 74 | Hitchcock County, Nebraska | $5,140 | 0.2% | 97.6% |
| 75 | Cherry County, Nebraska | $4,738 | 0.2% | 97.8% |
| 76 | Nance County, Nebraska | $4,723 | 0.2% | 98.1% |
| 77 | Furnas County, Nebraska | $4,711 | 0.2% | 98.3% |
| 78 | Polk County, Nebraska | $4,296 | 0.2% | 98.5% |
| 79 | Merrick County, Nebraska | $4,226 | 0.2% | 98.7% |
| 80 | Deuel County, Nebraska | $4,083 | 0.2% | 98.9% |
| 81 | Logan County, Nebraska | $3,895 | 0.2% | 99.1% |
| 82 | Gosper County, Nebraska | $3,366 | 0.2% | 99.3% |
| 83 | Garfield County, Nebraska | $3,220 | 0.2% | 99.4% |
| 84 | Red Willow County, Nebraska | $2,978 | 0.1% | 99.6% |
| 85 | Hayes County, Nebraska | $2,331 | 0.1% | 99.7% |
| 86 | Douglas County, Nebraska | $1,880 | 0.1% | 99.8% |
| 87 | Blaine County, Nebraska | $1,862 | 0.1% | 99.9% |
| 88 | Keith County, Nebraska | $1,431 | 0.1% | 99.9% |
| 89 | Arthur County, Nebraska | $1,079 | 0.1% | 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.