| Rank |
County |
Subtotal, Disaster Payments
1995-2011 | Pct of
Total | Running
Percentage |
| 1 | Custer County, Nebraska | $27,214,574 | 3.4% | 3.4% |
| 2 | Lincoln County, Nebraska | $21,573,518 | 2.7% | 6.0% |
| 3 | Holt County, Nebraska | $21,221,236 | 2.6% | 8.7% |
| 4 | Cheyenne County, Nebraska | $18,971,026 | 2.4% | 11.0% |
| 5 | Red Willow County, Nebraska | $18,803,476 | 2.3% | 13.4% |
| 6 | Perkins County, Nebraska | $17,892,790 | 2.2% | 15.6% |
| 7 | Sheridan County, Nebraska | $17,150,669 | 2.1% | 17.7% |
| 8 | Scotts Bluff County, Nebraska | $17,073,179 | 2.1% | 19.8% |
| 9 | Dawes County, Nebraska | $16,661,345 | 2.1% | 21.9% |
| 10 | Buffalo County, Nebraska | $16,600,867 | 2.1% | 23.9% |
| 11 | Furnas County, Nebraska | $16,597,747 | 2.1% | 26.0% |
| 12 | Frontier County, Nebraska | $15,994,225 | 2.0% | 28.0% |
| 13 | Otoe County, Nebraska | $14,969,204 | 1.9% | 29.8% |
| 14 | Gage County, Nebraska | $14,822,166 | 1.8% | 31.7% |
| 15 | Dawson County, Nebraska | $14,711,975 | 1.8% | 33.5% |
| 16 | Knox County, Nebraska | $14,443,592 | 1.8% | 35.3% |
| 17 | Chase County, Nebraska | $14,279,007 | 1.8% | 37.1% |
| 18 | Hitchcock County, Nebraska | $13,730,457 | 1.7% | 38.8% |
| 19 | Dundy County, Nebraska | $13,554,167 | 1.7% | 40.4% |
| 20 | Cherry County, Nebraska | $13,243,119 | 1.6% | 42.1% |
| 21 | Box Butte County, Nebraska | $12,744,592 | 1.6% | 43.7% |
| 22 | Kimball County, Nebraska | $11,852,733 | 1.5% | 45.1% |
| 23 | Morrill County, Nebraska | $11,775,118 | 1.5% | 46.6% |
| 24 | Hayes County, Nebraska | $11,250,678 | 1.4% | 48.0% |
| 25 | Nance County, Nebraska | $10,560,420 | 1.3% | 49.3% |
| 26 | Nemaha County, Nebraska | $10,013,450 | 1.2% | 50.5% |
| 27 | Boyd County, Nebraska | $9,790,479 | 1.2% | 51.8% |
| 28 | Nuckolls County, Nebraska | $9,529,867 | 1.2% | 52.9% |
| 29 | Valley County, Nebraska | $9,388,176 | 1.2% | 54.1% |
| 30 | Sherman County, Nebraska | $9,363,708 | 1.2% | 55.3% |
| 31 | Cass County, Nebraska | $9,316,411 | 1.2% | 56.4% |
| 32 | Gosper County, Nebraska | $9,316,311 | 1.2% | 57.6% |
| 33 | Butler County, Nebraska | $8,867,182 | 1.1% | 58.7% |
| 34 | Dodge County, Nebraska | $8,647,808 | 1.1% | 59.7% |
| 35 | Hall County, Nebraska | $8,636,738 | 1.1% | 60.8% |
| 36 | Antelope County, Nebraska | $8,540,065 | 1.1% | 61.9% |
| 37 | Jefferson County, Nebraska | $8,511,601 | 1.1% | 62.9% |
| 38 | Cedar County, Nebraska | $8,304,905 | 1.0% | 64.0% |
| 39 | Platte County, Nebraska | $8,275,382 | 1.0% | 65.0% |
| 40 | Polk County, Nebraska | $8,123,665 | 1.0% | 66.0% |
| 41 | Pawnee County, Nebraska | $8,095,170 | 1.0% | 67.0% |
| 42 | Webster County, Nebraska | $7,936,390 | 1.0% | 68.0% |
| 43 | Richardson County, Nebraska | $7,894,568 | 1.0% | 69.0% |
| 44 | Pierce County, Nebraska | $7,890,602 | 1.0% | 69.9% |
| 45 | Saline County, Nebraska | $7,736,721 | 1.0% | 70.9% |
| 46 | Franklin County, Nebraska | $7,580,016 | 0.9% | 71.8% |
| 47 | Saunders County, Nebraska | $7,522,442 | 0.9% | 72.8% |
| 48 | Keith County, Nebraska | $7,403,760 | 0.9% | 73.7% |
| 49 | Seward County, Nebraska | $7,326,504 | 0.9% | 74.6% |
| 50 | Harlan County, Nebraska | $7,312,999 | 0.9% | 75.5% |
| 51 | Howard County, Nebraska | $7,244,766 | 0.9% | 76.4% |
| 52 | Boone County, Nebraska | $7,163,648 | 0.9% | 77.3% |
| 53 | Lancaster County, Nebraska | $6,987,984 | 0.9% | 78.1% |
| 54 | Fillmore County, Nebraska | $6,965,591 | 0.9% | 79.0% |
| 55 | Merrick County, Nebraska | $6,918,202 | 0.9% | 79.9% |
| 56 | Banner County, Nebraska | $6,830,740 | 0.8% | 80.7% |
| 57 | Greeley County, Nebraska | $6,538,562 | 0.8% | 81.5% |
| 58 | Johnson County, Nebraska | $6,446,069 | 0.8% | 82.3% |
| 59 | Clay County, Nebraska | $6,424,600 | 0.8% | 83.1% |
| 60 | Thayer County, Nebraska | $6,385,287 | 0.8% | 83.9% |
| 61 | Kearney County, Nebraska | $6,336,905 | 0.8% | 84.7% |
| 62 | Phelps County, Nebraska | $6,314,294 | 0.8% | 85.5% |
| 63 | Garden County, Nebraska | $5,942,902 | 0.7% | 86.2% |
| 64 | Washington County, Nebraska | $5,762,891 | 0.7% | 86.9% |
| 65 | Deuel County, Nebraska | $5,726,954 | 0.7% | 87.6% |
| 66 | Madison County, Nebraska | $5,585,216 | 0.7% | 88.3% |
| 67 | Cuming County, Nebraska | $5,455,148 | 0.7% | 89.0% |
| 68 | Sioux County, Nebraska | $5,254,039 | 0.7% | 89.7% |
| 69 | Hamilton County, Nebraska | $5,215,758 | 0.6% | 90.3% |
| 70 | Rock County, Nebraska | $5,087,035 | 0.6% | 90.9% |
| 71 | York County, Nebraska | $5,060,826 | 0.6% | 91.6% |
| 72 | Adams County, Nebraska | $5,037,111 | 0.6% | 92.2% |
| 73 | Wayne County, Nebraska | $4,883,356 | 0.6% | 92.8% |
| 74 | Burt County, Nebraska | $4,881,640 | 0.6% | 93.4% |
| 75 | Colfax County, Nebraska | $4,741,860 | 0.6% | 94.0% |
| 76 | Keya Paha County, Nebraska | $4,550,600 | 0.6% | 94.6% |
| 77 | Brown County, Nebraska | $4,250,366 | 0.5% | 95.1% |
| 78 | Wheeler County, Nebraska | $3,950,593 | 0.5% | 95.6% |
| 79 | Stanton County, Nebraska | $3,705,915 | 0.5% | 96.0% |
| 80 | Logan County, Nebraska | $3,601,102 | 0.4% | 96.5% |
| 81 | Garfield County, Nebraska | $3,321,820 | 0.4% | 96.9% |
| 82 | Dixon County, Nebraska | $3,264,190 | 0.4% | 97.3% |
| 83 | Loup County, Nebraska | $3,152,099 | 0.4% | 97.7% |
| 84 | Sarpy County, Nebraska | $2,757,322 | 0.3% | 98.0% |
| 85 | Thurston County, Nebraska | $2,399,730 | 0.3% | 98.3% |
| 86 | McPherson County, Nebraska | $2,348,904 | 0.3% | 98.6% |
| 87 | Douglas County, Nebraska | $2,334,229 | 0.3% | 98.9% |
| 88 | Dakota County, Nebraska | $2,143,394 | 0.3% | 99.2% |
| 89 | Arthur County, Nebraska | $1,736,650 | 0.2% | 99.4% |
| 90 | Blaine County, Nebraska | $1,565,014 | 0.2% | 99.6% |
| 91 | Grant County, Nebraska | $1,463,302 | 0.2% | 99.8% |
| 92 | Thomas County, Nebraska | $1,122,805 | 0.1% | 99.9% |
| 93 | Hooker County, Nebraska | $841,490 | 0.1% | 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.
