| Rank |
County |
Total USDA - Subsidies
2011 | Pct of
Total | Running
Percentage |
| 1 | Gibson County, Tennessee | $12,930,750 | 7.4% | 7.4% |
| 2 | Haywood County, Tennessee | $10,193,303 | 5.8% | 13.2% |
| 3 | Obion County, Tennessee | $8,237,231 | 4.7% | 18.0% |
| 4 | Lauderdale County, Tennessee | $8,152,744 | 4.7% | 22.6% |
| 5 | Dyer County, Tennessee | $8,042,315 | 4.6% | 27.2% |
| 6 | Crockett County, Tennessee | $7,887,282 | 4.5% | 31.8% |
| 7 | Macon County, Tennessee | $7,774,283 | 4.5% | 36.2% |
| 8 | Weakley County, Tennessee | $7,595,736 | 4.4% | 40.6% |
| 9 | Fayette County, Tennessee | $7,042,377 | 4.0% | 44.6% |
| 10 | Robertson County, Tennessee | $6,755,901 | 3.9% | 48.5% |
| 11 | Madison County, Tennessee | $6,191,839 | 3.5% | 52.0% |
| 12 | Tipton County, Tennessee | $5,820,556 | 3.3% | 55.4% |
| 13 | Carroll County, Tennessee | $5,694,793 | 3.3% | 58.6% |
| 14 | Henry County, Tennessee | $5,129,475 | 2.9% | 61.6% |
| 15 | Shelby County, Tennessee | $3,749,229 | 2.1% | 63.7% |
| 16 | Montgomery County, Tennessee | $3,578,871 | 2.1% | 65.8% |
| 17 | Hardeman County, Tennessee | $3,443,423 | 2.0% | 67.7% |
| 18 | Lake County, Tennessee | $3,422,628 | 2.0% | 69.7% |
| 19 | Franklin County, Tennessee | $3,096,339 | 1.8% | 71.5% |
| 20 | Coffee County, Tennessee | $2,630,479 | 1.5% | 73.0% |
| 21 | Lincoln County, Tennessee | $2,566,425 | 1.5% | 74.4% |
| 22 | Henderson County, Tennessee | $2,459,100 | 1.4% | 75.9% |
| 23 | McNairy County, Tennessee | $2,371,943 | 1.4% | 77.2% |
| 24 | Lawrence County, Tennessee | $2,365,394 | 1.4% | 78.6% |
| 25 | Hardin County, Tennessee | $2,223,054 | 1.3% | 79.8% |
| 26 | Sumner County, Tennessee | $1,955,432 | 1.1% | 81.0% |
| 27 | Giles County, Tennessee | $1,593,486 | 0.9% | 81.9% |
| 28 | Hickman County, Tennessee | $1,453,493 | 0.8% | 82.7% |
| 29 | Greene County, Tennessee | $1,387,488 | 0.8% | 83.5% |
| 30 | Smith County, Tennessee | $1,381,767 | 0.8% | 84.3% |
| 31 | Bedford County, Tennessee | $1,309,237 | 0.8% | 85.0% |
| 32 | Maury County, Tennessee | $1,270,359 | 0.7% | 85.8% |
| 33 | Hawkins County, Tennessee | $1,214,959 | 0.7% | 86.5% |
| 34 | Warren County, Tennessee | $1,129,317 | 0.6% | 87.1% |
| 35 | Rutherford County, Tennessee | $1,102,633 | 0.6% | 87.7% |
| 36 | Chester County, Tennessee | $1,075,803 | 0.6% | 88.4% |
| 37 | Benton County, Tennessee | $1,031,645 | 0.6% | 89.0% |
| 38 | Humphreys County, Tennessee | $897,660 | 0.5% | 89.5% |
| 39 | Washington County, Tennessee | $826,274 | 0.5% | 89.9% |
| 40 | Cannon County, Tennessee | $789,205 | 0.5% | 90.4% |
| 41 | McMinn County, Tennessee | $750,834 | 0.4% | 90.8% |
| 42 | Trousdale County, Tennessee | $721,616 | 0.4% | 91.2% |
| 43 | DeKalb County, Tennessee | $699,659 | 0.4% | 91.6% |
| 44 | Claiborne County, Tennessee | $669,380 | 0.4% | 92.0% |
| 45 | Clay County, Tennessee | $644,499 | 0.4% | 92.4% |
| 46 | Stewart County, Tennessee | $609,201 | 0.3% | 92.7% |
| 47 | Monroe County, Tennessee | $597,275 | 0.3% | 93.1% |
| 48 | Cheatham County, Tennessee | $586,596 | 0.3% | 93.4% |
| 49 | Williamson County, Tennessee | $574,224 | 0.3% | 93.7% |
| 50 | Decatur County, Tennessee | $499,190 | 0.3% | 94.0% |
| 51 | Dickson County, Tennessee | $491,202 | 0.3% | 94.3% |
| 52 | Marshall County, Tennessee | $486,269 | 0.3% | 94.6% |
| 53 | Jackson County, Tennessee | $482,264 | 0.3% | 94.9% |
| 54 | Loudon County, Tennessee | $479,381 | 0.3% | 95.1% |
| 55 | Cocke County, Tennessee | $442,564 | 0.3% | 95.4% |
| 56 | Rhea County, Tennessee | $428,909 | 0.2% | 95.6% |
| 57 | Wayne County, Tennessee | $424,478 | 0.2% | 95.9% |
| 58 | Bledsoe County, Tennessee | $396,458 | 0.2% | 96.1% |
| 59 | Wilson County, Tennessee | $387,648 | 0.2% | 96.3% |
| 60 | Cumberland County, Tennessee | $382,148 | 0.2% | 96.6% |
| 61 | Hamblen County, Tennessee | $363,589 | 0.2% | 96.8% |
| 62 | Grainger County, Tennessee | $363,440 | 0.2% | 97.0% |
| 63 | Perry County, Tennessee | $361,467 | 0.2% | 97.2% |
| 64 | White County, Tennessee | $348,249 | 0.2% | 97.4% |
| 65 | Polk County, Tennessee | $340,825 | 0.2% | 97.6% |
| 66 | Bradley County, Tennessee | $337,770 | 0.2% | 97.8% |
| 67 | Marion County, Tennessee | $309,218 | 0.2% | 97.9% |
| 68 | Putnam County, Tennessee | $298,800 | 0.2% | 98.1% |
| 69 | Jefferson County, Tennessee | $246,625 | 0.1% | 98.3% |
| 70 | Sullivan County, Tennessee | $236,419 | 0.1% | 98.4% |
| 71 | Blount County, Tennessee | $236,152 | 0.1% | 98.5% |
| 72 | Houston County, Tennessee | $218,954 | 0.1% | 98.6% |
| 73 | Grundy County, Tennessee | $214,382 | 0.1% | 98.8% |
| 74 | Hancock County, Tennessee | $211,813 | 0.1% | 98.9% |
| 75 | Overton County, Tennessee | $202,642 | 0.1% | 99.0% |
| 76 | Johnson County, Tennessee | $191,287 | 0.1% | 99.1% |
| 77 | Pickett County, Tennessee | $189,176 | 0.1% | 99.2% |
| 78 | Fentress County, Tennessee | $171,877 | 0.1% | 99.3% |
| 79 | Meigs County, Tennessee | $158,194 | 0.1% | 99.4% |
| 80 | Sevier County, Tennessee | $141,277 | 0.1% | 99.5% |
| 81 | Union County, Tennessee | $126,436 | 0.1% | 99.6% |
| 82 | Lewis County, Tennessee | $103,315 | 0.1% | 99.6% |
| 83 | Knox County, Tennessee | $94,271 | 0.1% | 99.7% |
| 84 | Van Buren County, Tennessee | $91,328 | 0.1% | 99.7% |
| 85 | Carter County, Tennessee | $77,013 | 0.0% | 99.8% |
| 86 | Hamilton County, Tennessee | $69,150 | 0.0% | 99.8% |
| 87 | Davidson County, Tennessee | $57,693 | 0.0% | 99.9% |
| 88 | Campbell County, Tennessee | $55,467 | 0.0% | 99.9% |
| 89 | Moore County, Tennessee | $53,037 | 0.0% | 99.9% |
| 90 | Sequatchie County, Tennessee | $51,488 | 0.0% | 99.9% |
| 91 | Roane County, Tennessee | $38,915 | 0.0% | 100.0% |
| 92 | Morgan County, Tennessee | $20,194 | 0.0% | 100.0% |
| 93 | Scott County, Tennessee | $15,167 | 0.0% | 100.0% |
| 94 | Anderson County, Tennessee | $13,274 | 0.0% | 100.0% |
| 95 | Unicoi County, Tennessee | $10,445 | 0.0% | 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.
