| Rank |
County |
Total Direct Payments
1995-2011 | Pct of
Total | Running
Percentage |
| 1 | Cass County, North Dakota | $99,651,282 | 5.1% | 5.1% |
| 2 | Cavalier County, North Dakota | $89,221,335 | 4.6% | 9.7% |
| 3 | Richland County, North Dakota | $80,943,937 | 4.2% | 13.8% |
| 4 | Ward County, North Dakota | $73,365,245 | 3.8% | 17.6% |
| 5 | Stutsman County, North Dakota | $68,373,693 | 3.5% | 21.1% |
| 6 | McLean County, North Dakota | $62,232,824 | 3.2% | 24.3% |
| 7 | Barnes County, North Dakota | $59,516,729 | 3.1% | 27.4% |
| 8 | Walsh County, North Dakota | $59,208,896 | 3.0% | 30.4% |
| 9 | Grand Forks County, North Dakota | $59,132,765 | 3.0% | 33.4% |
| 10 | Bottineau County, North Dakota | $59,116,450 | 3.0% | 36.5% |
| 11 | Pembina County, North Dakota | $56,707,916 | 2.9% | 39.4% |
| 12 | Traill County, North Dakota | $50,417,892 | 2.6% | 42.0% |
| 13 | Williams County, North Dakota | $49,547,127 | 2.5% | 44.5% |
| 14 | Towner County, North Dakota | $47,357,662 | 2.4% | 46.9% |
| 15 | Mountrail County, North Dakota | $47,246,432 | 2.4% | 49.4% |
| 16 | Ramsey County, North Dakota | $45,764,336 | 2.3% | 51.7% |
| 17 | Wells County, North Dakota | $45,702,373 | 2.3% | 54.1% |
| 18 | Renville County, North Dakota | $44,498,965 | 2.3% | 56.3% |
| 19 | Benson County, North Dakota | $43,271,460 | 2.2% | 58.6% |
| 20 | Hettinger County, North Dakota | $38,867,283 | 2.0% | 60.6% |
| 21 | LaMoure County, North Dakota | $38,204,304 | 2.0% | 62.5% |
| 22 | Nelson County, North Dakota | $36,862,363 | 1.9% | 64.4% |
| 23 | McHenry County, North Dakota | $36,461,773 | 1.9% | 66.3% |
| 24 | Divide County, North Dakota | $35,145,957 | 1.8% | 68.1% |
| 25 | Sargent County, North Dakota | $33,828,755 | 1.7% | 69.8% |
| 26 | Steele County, North Dakota | $33,640,129 | 1.7% | 71.6% |
| 27 | Burke County, North Dakota | $30,624,325 | 1.6% | 73.1% |
| 28 | Dickey County, North Dakota | $30,504,032 | 1.6% | 74.7% |
| 29 | Morton County, North Dakota | $29,453,081 | 1.5% | 76.2% |
| 30 | Pierce County, North Dakota | $29,132,025 | 1.5% | 77.7% |
| 31 | Stark County, North Dakota | $28,985,307 | 1.5% | 79.2% |
| 32 | Ransom County, North Dakota | $28,823,919 | 1.5% | 80.7% |
| 33 | Emmons County, North Dakota | $27,402,505 | 1.4% | 82.1% |
| 34 | Foster County, North Dakota | $25,999,164 | 1.3% | 83.4% |
| 35 | Rolette County, North Dakota | $24,438,531 | 1.3% | 84.7% |
| 36 | McKenzie County, North Dakota | $24,323,186 | 1.2% | 85.9% |
| 37 | Griggs County, North Dakota | $23,869,989 | 1.2% | 87.1% |
| 38 | Grant County, North Dakota | $22,396,395 | 1.1% | 88.3% |
| 39 | Sheridan County, North Dakota | $21,170,685 | 1.1% | 89.4% |
| 40 | Burleigh County, North Dakota | $20,875,291 | 1.1% | 90.4% |
| 41 | Dunn County, North Dakota | $20,355,217 | 1.0% | 91.5% |
| 42 | McIntosh County, North Dakota | $19,755,804 | 1.0% | 92.5% |
| 43 | Adams County, North Dakota | $18,133,837 | 0.9% | 93.4% |
| 44 | Logan County, North Dakota | $17,302,597 | 0.9% | 94.3% |
| 45 | Bowman County, North Dakota | $16,649,748 | 0.9% | 95.2% |
| 46 | Slope County, North Dakota | $15,554,845 | 0.8% | 96.0% |
| 47 | Kidder County, North Dakota | $15,498,665 | 0.8% | 96.8% |
| 48 | Mercer County, North Dakota | $14,804,716 | 0.8% | 97.5% |
| 49 | Eddy County, North Dakota | $14,437,053 | 0.7% | 98.3% |
| 50 | Golden Valley County, North Dakota | $13,488,459 | 0.7% | 99.0% |
| 51 | Oliver County, North Dakota | $10,668,566 | 0.5% | 99.5% |
| 52 | Sioux County, North Dakota | $5,706,563 | 0.3% | 99.8% |
| 53 | Billings County, North Dakota | $4,036,953 | 0.2% | 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.
