| Rank |
County |
Subtotal, Farming Subsidies
1995-2011 | Pct of
Total | Running
Percentage |
| 1 | | $199,990,959 | 8.5% | 8.5% |
| 2 | Haywood County, Tennessee | $195,395,908 | 8.3% | 16.8% |
| 3 | Gibson County, Tennessee | $160,719,295 | 6.8% | 23.6% |
| 4 | Crockett County, Tennessee | $159,077,011 | 6.8% | 30.4% |
| 5 | Dyer County, Tennessee | $128,432,969 | 5.5% | 35.8% |
| 6 | Lauderdale County, Tennessee | $126,355,605 | 5.4% | 41.2% |
| 7 | Tipton County, Tennessee | $111,216,970 | 4.7% | 45.9% |
| 8 | Obion County, Tennessee | $104,865,975 | 4.5% | 50.4% |
| 9 | Fayette County, Tennessee | $101,692,548 | 4.3% | 54.7% |
| 10 | Madison County, Tennessee | $100,620,100 | 4.3% | 59.0% |
| 11 | Weakley County, Tennessee | $74,152,744 | 3.2% | 62.1% |
| 12 | Carroll County, Tennessee | $66,060,511 | 2.8% | 64.9% |
| 13 | Lake County, Tennessee | $61,312,757 | 2.6% | 67.5% |
| 14 | Shelby County, Tennessee | $55,927,447 | 2.4% | 69.9% |
| 15 | Robertson County, Tennessee | $53,754,843 | 2.3% | 72.2% |
| 16 | Henry County, Tennessee | $41,805,505 | 1.8% | 74.0% |
| 17 | Hardeman County, Tennessee | $40,460,317 | 1.7% | 75.7% |
| 18 | | $40,056,966 | 1.7% | 77.4% |
| 19 | Franklin County, Tennessee | $29,914,794 | 1.3% | 78.7% |
| 20 | Lincoln County, Tennessee | $28,365,998 | 1.2% | 79.9% |
| 21 | Montgomery County, Tennessee | $26,683,953 | 1.1% | 81.0% |
| 22 | Henderson County, Tennessee | $24,368,140 | 1.0% | 82.0% |
| 23 | McNairy County, Tennessee | $21,665,245 | 0.9% | 83.0% |
| 24 | Coffee County, Tennessee | $20,648,567 | 0.9% | 83.8% |
| 25 | Lawrence County, Tennessee | $19,282,214 | 0.8% | 84.7% |
| 26 | Hardin County, Tennessee | $17,622,110 | 0.7% | 85.4% |
| 27 | Greene County, Tennessee | $17,098,399 | 0.7% | 86.1% |
| 28 | Giles County, Tennessee | $15,762,939 | 0.7% | 86.8% |
| 29 | Rutherford County, Tennessee | $15,636,806 | 0.7% | 87.5% |
| 30 | Macon County, Tennessee | $15,015,531 | 0.6% | 88.1% |
| 31 | Sumner County, Tennessee | $14,651,056 | 0.6% | 88.7% |
| 32 | Bedford County, Tennessee | $13,167,302 | 0.6% | 89.3% |
| 33 | Maury County, Tennessee | $11,776,709 | 0.5% | 89.8% |
| 34 | Washington County, Tennessee | $11,180,580 | 0.5% | 90.3% |
| 35 | McMinn County, Tennessee | $10,679,903 | 0.5% | 90.7% |
| 36 | Chester County, Tennessee | $10,073,519 | 0.4% | 91.2% |
| 37 | | $8,412,587 | 0.4% | 91.5% |
| 38 | Warren County, Tennessee | $8,329,663 | 0.4% | 91.9% |
| 39 | Marshall County, Tennessee | $8,238,861 | 0.4% | 92.2% |
| 40 | Monroe County, Tennessee | $8,004,054 | 0.3% | 92.6% |
| 41 | Cannon County, Tennessee | $7,070,877 | 0.3% | 92.9% |
| 42 | Humphreys County, Tennessee | $6,706,084 | 0.3% | 93.1% |
| 43 | Polk County, Tennessee | $6,399,586 | 0.3% | 93.4% |
| 44 | Smith County, Tennessee | $6,267,335 | 0.3% | 93.7% |
| 45 | Williamson County, Tennessee | $6,131,274 | 0.3% | 93.9% |
| 46 | Hawkins County, Tennessee | $5,853,782 | 0.2% | 94.2% |
| 47 | White County, Tennessee | $5,721,833 | 0.2% | 94.4% |
| 48 | Benton County, Tennessee | $5,711,233 | 0.2% | 94.7% |
| 49 | Claiborne County, Tennessee | $5,521,149 | 0.2% | 94.9% |
| 50 | Loudon County, Tennessee | $5,502,289 | 0.2% | 95.1% |
| 51 | Decatur County, Tennessee | $4,695,881 | 0.2% | 95.3% |
| 52 | Jefferson County, Tennessee | $4,594,900 | 0.2% | 95.5% |
| 53 | Bradley County, Tennessee | $4,533,238 | 0.2% | 95.7% |
| 54 | Overton County, Tennessee | $4,350,065 | 0.2% | 95.9% |
| 55 | Cocke County, Tennessee | $4,214,684 | 0.2% | 96.1% |
| 56 | DeKalb County, Tennessee | $4,105,661 | 0.2% | 96.3% |
| 57 | Hickman County, Tennessee | $4,066,761 | 0.2% | 96.4% |
| 58 | Blount County, Tennessee | $4,044,848 | 0.2% | 96.6% |
| 59 | Grainger County, Tennessee | $4,001,454 | 0.2% | 96.8% |
| 60 | Bledsoe County, Tennessee | $3,682,690 | 0.2% | 96.9% |
| 61 | Stewart County, Tennessee | $3,381,807 | 0.1% | 97.1% |
| 62 | Fentress County, Tennessee | $3,357,404 | 0.1% | 97.2% |
| 63 | Trousdale County, Tennessee | $3,304,005 | 0.1% | 97.4% |
| 64 | Sullivan County, Tennessee | $3,151,601 | 0.1% | 97.5% |
| 65 | Hamblen County, Tennessee | $3,085,636 | 0.1% | 97.6% |
| 66 | Marion County, Tennessee | $2,977,848 | 0.1% | 97.8% |
| 67 | Cheatham County, Tennessee | $2,961,747 | 0.1% | 97.9% |
| 68 | Perry County, Tennessee | $2,925,270 | 0.1% | 98.0% |
| 69 | Dickson County, Tennessee | $2,864,321 | 0.1% | 98.1% |
| 70 | Clay County, Tennessee | $2,864,100 | 0.1% | 98.2% |
| 71 | Wayne County, Tennessee | $2,842,700 | 0.1% | 98.4% |
| 72 | Putnam County, Tennessee | $2,732,425 | 0.1% | 98.5% |
| 73 | Cumberland County, Tennessee | $2,700,119 | 0.1% | 98.6% |
| 74 | Johnson County, Tennessee | $2,548,809 | 0.1% | 98.7% |
| 75 | Meigs County, Tennessee | $2,488,621 | 0.1% | 98.8% |
| 76 | Wilson County, Tennessee | $2,319,905 | 0.1% | 98.9% |
| 77 | Pickett County, Tennessee | $2,311,112 | 0.1% | 99.0% |
| 78 | Rhea County, Tennessee | $2,238,834 | 0.1% | 99.1% |
| 79 | Grundy County, Tennessee | $2,201,251 | 0.1% | 99.2% |
| 80 | Hancock County, Tennessee | $2,011,632 | 0.1% | 99.3% |
| 81 | Carter County, Tennessee | $1,815,500 | 0.1% | 99.4% |
| 82 | Jackson County, Tennessee | $1,737,273 | 0.1% | 99.4% |
| 83 | Sequatchie County, Tennessee | $1,465,712 | 0.1% | 99.5% |
| 84 | Knox County, Tennessee | $1,433,582 | 0.1% | 99.6% |
| 85 | Sevier County, Tennessee | $1,227,013 | 0.1% | 99.6% |
| 86 | Hamilton County, Tennessee | $1,127,823 | 0.0% | 99.7% |
| 87 | Union County, Tennessee | $1,125,624 | 0.0% | 99.7% |
| 88 | Houston County, Tennessee | $1,095,091 | 0.0% | 99.8% |
| 89 | Moore County, Tennessee | $1,048,380 | 0.0% | 99.8% |
| 90 | Campbell County, Tennessee | $677,789 | 0.0% | 99.8% |
| 91 | Van Buren County, Tennessee | $667,622 | 0.0% | 99.9% |
| 92 | Roane County, Tennessee | $657,185 | 0.0% | 99.9% |
| 93 | Morgan County, Tennessee | $625,075 | 0.0% | 99.9% |
| 94 | Lewis County, Tennessee | $593,116 | 0.0% | 99.9% |
| 95 | Scott County, Tennessee | $549,983 | 0.0% | 100.0% |
| 96 | Davidson County, Tennessee | $491,603 | 0.0% | 100.0% |
| 97 | Unicoi County, Tennessee | $262,825 | 0.0% | 100.0% |
| 98 | Anderson County, Tennessee | $202,961 | 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.
