| Rank |
County |
Total USDA - Subsidies
2011 | Pct of
Total | Running
Percentage |
| 1 | Orleans County, New York | $3,843,813 | 6.8% | 6.8% |
| 2 | Livingston County, New York | $3,526,183 | 6.2% | 12.9% |
| 3 | Ontario County, New York | $2,846,725 | 5.0% | 17.9% |
| 4 | Orange County, New York | $2,835,771 | 5.0% | 22.9% |
| 5 | Wayne County, New York | $2,751,237 | 4.8% | 27.8% |
| 6 | Cayuga County, New York | $2,741,501 | 4.8% | 32.6% |
| 7 | Genesee County, New York | $2,449,388 | 4.3% | 36.9% |
| 8 | Niagara County, New York | $2,227,482 | 3.9% | 40.8% |
| 9 | Monroe County, New York | $1,986,591 | 3.5% | 44.3% |
| 10 | Wyoming County, New York | $1,893,973 | 3.3% | 47.6% |
| 11 | Jefferson County, New York | $1,798,492 | 3.2% | 50.8% |
| 12 | Steuben County, New York | $1,767,381 | 3.1% | 53.9% |
| 13 | Onondaga County, New York | $1,704,430 | 3.0% | 56.9% |
| 14 | Chautauqua County, New York | $1,505,373 | 2.6% | 59.5% |
| 15 | Seneca County, New York | $1,287,100 | 2.3% | 61.8% |
| 16 | Saint Lawrence County, New York | $1,242,581 | 2.2% | 63.9% |
| 17 | Clinton County, New York | $1,147,877 | 2.0% | 66.0% |
| 18 | Erie County, New York | $1,088,569 | 1.9% | 67.9% |
| 19 | Columbia County, New York | $1,013,244 | 1.8% | 69.6% |
| 20 | Montgomery County, New York | $994,519 | 1.7% | 71.4% |
| 21 | Ulster County, New York | $993,718 | 1.7% | 73.1% |
| 22 | Cattaraugus County, New York | $990,149 | 1.7% | 74.9% |
| 23 | Oneida County, New York | $963,385 | 1.7% | 76.6% |
| 24 | Washington County, New York | $961,150 | 1.7% | 78.3% |
| 25 | Madison County, New York | $954,013 | 1.7% | 79.9% |
| 26 | Chenango County, New York | $935,756 | 1.6% | 81.6% |
| 27 | Yates County, New York | $928,467 | 1.6% | 83.2% |
| 28 | Oswego County, New York | $744,104 | 1.3% | 84.5% |
| 29 | Rensselaer County, New York | $742,273 | 1.3% | 85.8% |
| 30 | Delaware County, New York | $652,569 | 1.1% | 87.0% |
| 31 | Allegany County, New York | $601,872 | 1.1% | 88.0% |
| 32 | Cortland County, New York | $591,222 | 1.0% | 89.1% |
| 33 | Franklin County, New York | $548,758 | 1.0% | 90.0% |
| 34 | Lewis County, New York | $512,162 | 0.9% | 90.9% |
| 35 | Saratoga County, New York | $507,993 | 0.9% | 91.8% |
| 36 | Tompkins County, New York | $495,196 | 0.9% | 92.7% |
| 37 | Herkimer County, New York | $482,646 | 0.8% | 93.5% |
| 38 | Otsego County, New York | $421,184 | 0.7% | 94.3% |
| 39 | Schoharie County, New York | $396,962 | 0.7% | 95.0% |
| 40 | Suffolk County, New York | $374,446 | 0.7% | 95.6% |
| 41 | Tioga County, New York | $362,985 | 0.6% | 96.3% |
| 42 | Greene County, New York | $351,114 | 0.6% | 96.9% |
| 43 | Broome County, New York | $348,759 | 0.6% | 97.5% |
| 44 | Dutchess County, New York | $295,981 | 0.5% | 98.0% |
| 45 | Chemung County, New York | $266,787 | 0.5% | 98.5% |
| 46 | Schuyler County, New York | $256,388 | 0.5% | 98.9% |
| 47 | Albany County, New York | $212,271 | 0.4% | 99.3% |
| 48 | Essex County, New York | $146,630 | 0.3% | 99.6% |
| 49 | Fulton County, New York | $134,479 | 0.2% | 99.8% |
| 50 | Sullivan County, New York | $72,883 | 0.1% | 99.9% |
| 51 | Schenectady County, New York | $33,071 | 0.1% | 100.0% |
| 52 | Rockland County, New York | $5,381 | 0.0% | 100.0% |
| 53 | Warren County, New York | $1,558 | 0.0% | 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.
