| Rank |
County |
Subtotal, Disaster Payments
1995-2011 | Pct of
Total | Running
Percentage |
| 1 | Rockingham County, Virginia | $44,375,914 | 19.3% | 19.3% |
| 2 | Northampton County, Virginia | $11,446,480 | 5.0% | 24.3% |
| 3 | Augusta County, Virginia | $10,735,004 | 4.7% | 29.0% |
| 4 | Accomack County, Virginia | $8,148,922 | 3.5% | 32.5% |
| 5 | Pittsylvania County, Virginia | $7,501,951 | 3.3% | 35.8% |
| 6 | Halifax County, Virginia | $6,211,933 | 2.7% | 38.5% |
| 7 | Southampton County, Virginia | $5,822,288 | 2.5% | 41.0% |
| 8 | Scott County, Virginia | $5,259,991 | 2.3% | 43.3% |
| 9 | Caroline County, Virginia | $5,208,438 | 2.3% | 45.6% |
| 10 | Hanover County, Virginia | $5,083,969 | 2.2% | 47.8% |
| 11 | Westmoreland County, Virginia | $4,711,047 | 2.1% | 49.8% |
| 12 | Russell County, Virginia | $4,708,983 | 2.0% | 51.9% |
| 13 | Shenandoah County, Virginia | $4,480,730 | 1.9% | 53.8% |
| 14 | Washington County, Virginia | $4,237,287 | 1.8% | 55.7% |
| 15 | Franklin County, Virginia | $3,613,664 | 1.6% | 57.2% |
| 16 | King William County, Virginia | $3,167,525 | 1.4% | 58.6% |
| 17 | Greensville County, Virginia | $2,975,235 | 1.3% | 59.9% |
| 18 | Fauquier County, Virginia | $2,765,866 | 1.2% | 61.1% |
| 19 | Sussex County, Virginia | $2,737,596 | 1.2% | 62.3% |
| 20 | Essex County, Virginia | $2,730,232 | 1.2% | 63.5% |
| 21 | Bedford County, Virginia | $2,655,110 | 1.2% | 64.7% |
| 22 | Campbell County, Virginia | $2,563,755 | 1.1% | 65.8% |
| 23 | Page County, Virginia | $2,507,586 | 1.1% | 66.9% |
| 24 | Dinwiddie County, Virginia | $2,359,713 | 1.0% | 67.9% |
| 25 | Mecklenburg County, Virginia | $2,325,564 | 1.0% | 68.9% |
| 26 | King and Queen County, Virginia | $2,206,627 | 1.0% | 69.9% |
| 27 | Richmond County, Virginia | $2,058,255 | 0.9% | 70.8% |
| 28 | Carroll County, Virginia | $2,012,410 | 0.9% | 71.6% |
| 29 | Suffolk City, Virginia | $2,003,166 | 0.9% | 72.5% |
| 30 | Charlotte County, Virginia | $1,921,751 | 0.8% | 73.3% |
| 31 | Wythe County, Virginia | $1,909,958 | 0.8% | 74.2% |
| 32 | Surry County, Virginia | $1,883,043 | 0.8% | 75.0% |
| 33 | Frederick County, Virginia | $1,882,900 | 0.8% | 75.8% |
| 34 | Lee County, Virginia | $1,882,224 | 0.8% | 76.6% |
| 35 | Amelia County, Virginia | $1,824,467 | 0.8% | 77.4% |
| 36 | Grayson County, Virginia | $1,747,800 | 0.8% | 78.2% |
| 37 | Rockbridge County, Virginia | $1,720,405 | 0.7% | 78.9% |
| 38 | Smyth County, Virginia | $1,719,582 | 0.7% | 79.7% |
| 39 | Northumberland County, Virginia | $1,697,169 | 0.7% | 80.4% |
| 40 | Goochland County, Virginia | $1,686,022 | 0.7% | 81.2% |
| 41 | Culpeper County, Virginia | $1,611,282 | 0.7% | 81.9% |
| 42 | Prince Edward County, Virginia | $1,506,486 | 0.7% | 82.5% |
| 43 | Lunenburg County, Virginia | $1,467,956 | 0.6% | 83.2% |
| 44 | Madison County, Virginia | $1,461,789 | 0.6% | 83.8% |
| 45 | Orange County, Virginia | $1,449,993 | 0.6% | 84.4% |
| 46 | Louisa County, Virginia | $1,441,519 | 0.6% | 85.0% |
| 47 | Brunswick County, Virginia | $1,399,115 | 0.6% | 85.7% |
| 48 | Isle of Wight County, Virginia | $1,388,671 | 0.6% | 86.3% |
| 49 | Patrick County, Virginia | $1,334,352 | 0.6% | 86.8% |
| 50 | Middlesex County, Virginia | $1,265,978 | 0.6% | 87.4% |
| 51 | King George County, Virginia | $1,252,142 | 0.5% | 87.9% |
| 52 | Nottoway County, Virginia | $1,234,043 | 0.5% | 88.5% |
| 53 | Albemarle County, Virginia | $1,232,766 | 0.5% | 89.0% |
| 54 | Appomattox County, Virginia | $1,222,043 | 0.5% | 89.5% |
| 55 | Botetourt County, Virginia | $1,218,337 | 0.5% | 90.1% |
| 56 | Buckingham County, Virginia | $1,217,816 | 0.5% | 90.6% |
| 57 | Cumberland County, Virginia | $1,156,649 | 0.5% | 91.1% |
| 58 | Amherst County, Virginia | $999,280 | 0.4% | 91.5% |
| 59 | Clarke County, Virginia | $997,545 | 0.4% | 92.0% |
| 60 | Spotsylvania County, Virginia | $950,975 | 0.4% | 92.4% |
| 61 | Chesapeake City, Virginia | $943,108 | 0.4% | 92.8% |
| 62 | Rappahannock County, Virginia | $895,284 | 0.4% | 93.2% |
| 63 | Loudoun County, Virginia | $868,654 | 0.4% | 93.6% |
| 64 | Floyd County, Virginia | $794,186 | 0.3% | 93.9% |
| 65 | Nelson County, Virginia | $785,397 | 0.3% | 94.3% |
| 66 | Prince George County, Virginia | $768,614 | 0.3% | 94.6% |
| 67 | New Kent County, Virginia | $760,960 | 0.3% | 94.9% |
| 68 | Highland County, Virginia | $756,831 | 0.3% | 95.3% |
| 69 | Montgomery County, Virginia | $723,851 | 0.3% | 95.6% |
| 70 | Gloucester County, Virginia | $707,913 | 0.3% | 95.9% |
| 71 | Tazewell County, Virginia | $699,768 | 0.3% | 96.2% |
| 72 | Pulaski County, Virginia | $658,180 | 0.3% | 96.5% |
| 73 | Greene County, Virginia | $609,907 | 0.3% | 96.7% |
| 74 | Lancaster County, Virginia | $609,597 | 0.3% | 97.0% |
| 75 | Stafford County, Virginia | $577,234 | 0.3% | 97.2% |
| 76 | Charles City County, Virginia | $563,216 | 0.2% | 97.5% |
| 77 | Bland County, Virginia | $512,128 | 0.2% | 97.7% |
| 78 | Virginia Beach City, Virginia | $503,442 | 0.2% | 97.9% |
| 79 | Prince William County, Virginia | $488,472 | 0.2% | 98.1% |
| 80 | Henrico County, Virginia | $445,693 | 0.2% | 98.3% |
| 81 | Roanoke County, Virginia | $434,414 | 0.2% | 98.5% |
| 82 | Chesterfield County, Virginia | $424,035 | 0.2% | 98.7% |
| 83 | Fluvanna County, Virginia | $410,973 | 0.2% | 98.9% |
| 84 | Giles County, Virginia | $322,905 | 0.1% | 99.0% |
| 85 | Powhatan County, Virginia | $322,112 | 0.1% | 99.2% |
| 86 | James City County, Virginia | $311,890 | 0.1% | 99.3% |
| 87 | Craig County, Virginia | $273,320 | 0.1% | 99.4% |
| 88 | Mathews County, Virginia | $201,137 | 0.1% | 99.5% |
| 89 | Wise County, Virginia | $195,397 | 0.1% | 99.6% |
| 90 | Warren County, Virginia | $189,087 | 0.1% | 99.7% |
| 91 | Henry County, Virginia | $186,324 | 0.1% | 99.8% |
| 92 | Buchanan County, Virginia | $171,153 | 0.1% | 99.8% |
| 93 | Bath County, Virginia | $152,439 | 0.1% | 99.9% |
| 94 | Alleghany County, Virginia | $118,897 | 0.1% | 100.0% |
| 95 | Dickenson County, Virginia | $88,306 | 0.0% | 100.0% |
| 96 | York County, Virginia | $6,932 | 0.0% | 100.0% |
| 97 | Fairfax County, Virginia | $2,600 | 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.
