| Rank |
County |
Total Direct Payments
2011 | Pct of
Total | Running
Percentage |
| 1 | Spink County, South Dakota | $4,307,578 | 4.0% | 4.0% |
| 2 | Minnehaha County, South Dakota | $4,268,249 | 4.0% | 8.0% |
| 3 | Brown County, South Dakota | $3,981,604 | 3.7% | 11.8% |
| 4 | Roberts County, South Dakota | $3,613,661 | 3.4% | 15.1% |
| 5 | Union County, South Dakota | $3,498,312 | 3.3% | 18.4% |
| 6 | Lincoln County, South Dakota | $3,180,140 | 3.0% | 21.4% |
| 7 | Turner County, South Dakota | $3,134,300 | 2.9% | 24.3% |
| 8 | Beadle County, South Dakota | $3,056,219 | 2.9% | 27.2% |
| 9 | Moody County, South Dakota | $2,948,055 | 2.8% | 29.9% |
| 10 | Tripp County, South Dakota | $2,895,121 | 2.7% | 32.6% |
| 11 | Brookings County, South Dakota | $2,859,901 | 2.7% | 35.3% |
| 12 | Kingsbury County, South Dakota | $2,609,352 | 2.4% | 37.8% |
| 13 | Lake County, South Dakota | $2,371,428 | 2.2% | 40.0% |
| 14 | Clark County, South Dakota | $2,291,532 | 2.1% | 42.1% |
| 15 | Grant County, South Dakota | $2,248,967 | 2.1% | 44.2% |
| 16 | Bon Homme County, South Dakota | $2,237,530 | 2.1% | 46.3% |
| 17 | Clay County, South Dakota | $2,179,825 | 2.0% | 48.4% |
| 18 | Edmunds County, South Dakota | $2,159,311 | 2.0% | 50.4% |
| 19 | Yankton County, South Dakota | $2,144,304 | 2.0% | 52.4% |
| 20 | Day County, South Dakota | $2,143,328 | 2.0% | 54.4% |
| 21 | Codington County, South Dakota | $2,116,739 | 2.0% | 56.4% |
| 22 | Hutchinson County, South Dakota | $2,095,822 | 2.0% | 58.3% |
| 23 | Potter County, South Dakota | $1,993,584 | 1.9% | 60.2% |
| 24 | Lyman County, South Dakota | $1,857,457 | 1.7% | 61.9% |
| 25 | Deuel County, South Dakota | $1,821,485 | 1.7% | 63.6% |
| 26 | Hamlin County, South Dakota | $1,764,269 | 1.7% | 65.3% |
| 27 | Haakon County, South Dakota | $1,752,419 | 1.6% | 66.9% |
| 28 | Faulk County, South Dakota | $1,742,587 | 1.6% | 68.6% |
| 29 | Charles Mix County, South Dakota | $1,686,067 | 1.6% | 70.1% |
| 30 | Hand County, South Dakota | $1,664,948 | 1.6% | 71.7% |
| 31 | McCook County, South Dakota | $1,646,563 | 1.5% | 73.2% |
| 32 | Perkins County, South Dakota | $1,503,165 | 1.4% | 74.6% |
| 33 | Brule County, South Dakota | $1,483,453 | 1.4% | 76.0% |
| 34 | Hanson County, South Dakota | $1,457,356 | 1.4% | 77.4% |
| 35 | Miner County, South Dakota | $1,370,749 | 1.3% | 78.7% |
| 36 | Davison County, South Dakota | $1,329,082 | 1.2% | 79.9% |
| 37 | Corson County, South Dakota | $1,304,559 | 1.2% | 81.1% |
| 38 | Hughes County, South Dakota | $1,273,040 | 1.2% | 82.3% |
| 39 | Meade County, South Dakota | $1,259,241 | 1.2% | 83.5% |
| 40 | Gregory County, South Dakota | $1,245,099 | 1.2% | 84.7% |
| 41 | Douglas County, South Dakota | $1,193,145 | 1.1% | 85.8% |
| 42 | Bennett County, South Dakota | $1,190,033 | 1.1% | 86.9% |
| 43 | McPherson County, South Dakota | $1,078,022 | 1.0% | 87.9% |
| 44 | Marshall County, South Dakota | $982,794 | 0.9% | 88.8% |
| 45 | Sully County, South Dakota | $917,596 | 0.9% | 89.7% |
| 46 | Pennington County, South Dakota | $900,687 | 0.8% | 90.5% |
| 47 | Jerauld County, South Dakota | $805,683 | 0.8% | 91.3% |
| 48 | Jackson County, South Dakota | $800,000 | 0.7% | 92.0% |
| 49 | Stanley County, South Dakota | $765,702 | 0.7% | 92.8% |
| 50 | Dewey County, South Dakota | $737,381 | 0.7% | 93.5% |
| 51 | Aurora County, South Dakota | $686,490 | 0.6% | 94.1% |
| 52 | Hyde County, South Dakota | $681,825 | 0.6% | 94.7% |
| 53 | Harding County, South Dakota | $658,764 | 0.6% | 95.3% |
| 54 | Jones County, South Dakota | $638,515 | 0.6% | 95.9% |
| 55 | Sanborn County, South Dakota | $567,967 | 0.5% | 96.5% |
| 56 | Walworth County, South Dakota | $548,597 | 0.5% | 97.0% |
| 57 | Shannon County, South Dakota | $514,366 | 0.5% | 97.5% |
| 58 | Mellette County, South Dakota | $467,453 | 0.4% | 97.9% |
| 59 | Butte County, South Dakota | $419,320 | 0.4% | 98.3% |
| 60 | Buffalo County, South Dakota | $403,722 | 0.4% | 98.7% |
| 61 | Campbell County, South Dakota | $357,305 | 0.3% | 99.0% |
| 62 | Ziebach County, South Dakota | $354,235 | 0.3% | 99.3% |
| 63 | Fall River County, South Dakota | $338,773 | 0.3% | 99.7% |
| 64 | Todd County, South Dakota | $241,029 | 0.2% | 99.9% |
| 65 | Custer County, South Dakota | $102,108 | 0.1% | 100.0% |
| 66 | Lawrence County, South Dakota | $15,929 | 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.
