| Rank |
County |
Subtotal, Disaster Payments
1995-2012 | Pct of
Total | Running
Percentage |
| 1 | Rockingham County, Virginia | $44,439,902 | 17.3% | 17.3% |
| 2 | Northampton County, Virginia | $12,455,303 | 4.9% | 22.2% |
| 3 | Southampton County, Virginia | $10,841,622 | 4.2% | 26.4% |
| 4 | Augusta County, Virginia | $10,788,178 | 4.2% | 30.6% |
| 5 | Accomack County, Virginia | $9,043,625 | 3.5% | 34.1% |
| 6 | Pittsylvania County, Virginia | $8,190,190 | 3.2% | 37.3% |
| 7 | Halifax County, Virginia | $6,528,623 | 2.5% | 39.8% |
| 8 | Hanover County, Virginia | $6,330,679 | 2.5% | 42.3% |
| 9 | Caroline County, Virginia | $6,285,773 | 2.4% | 44.8% |
| 10 | Westmoreland County, Virginia | $5,594,411 | 2.2% | 46.9% |
| 11 | Scott County, Virginia | $5,282,027 | 2.1% | 49.0% |
| 12 | Russell County, Virginia | $4,802,193 | 1.9% | 50.9% |
| 13 | Shenandoah County, Virginia | $4,570,506 | 1.8% | 52.6% |
| 14 | Greensville County, Virginia | $4,292,966 | 1.7% | 54.3% |
| 15 | Washington County, Virginia | $4,268,078 | 1.7% | 56.0% |
| 16 | Sussex County, Virginia | $4,162,567 | 1.6% | 57.6% |
| 17 | King William County, Virginia | $4,057,097 | 1.6% | 59.2% |
| 18 | Franklin County, Virginia | $3,988,343 | 1.6% | 60.7% |
| 19 | Essex County, Virginia | $3,751,894 | 1.5% | 62.2% |
| 20 | Suffolk City, Virginia | $3,286,083 | 1.3% | 63.5% |
| 21 | Isle of Wight County, Virginia | $3,224,752 | 1.3% | 64.7% |
| 22 | King and Queen County, Virginia | $2,997,158 | 1.2% | 65.9% |
| 23 | Surry County, Virginia | $2,993,123 | 1.2% | 67.1% |
| 24 | Dinwiddie County, Virginia | $2,948,482 | 1.1% | 68.2% |
| 25 | Fauquier County, Virginia | $2,814,026 | 1.1% | 69.3% |
| 26 | Bedford County, Virginia | $2,769,762 | 1.1% | 70.4% |
| 27 | Richmond County, Virginia | $2,626,900 | 1.0% | 71.4% |
| 28 | Campbell County, Virginia | $2,605,662 | 1.0% | 72.4% |
| 29 | Page County, Virginia | $2,507,586 | 1.0% | 73.4% |
| 30 | Mecklenburg County, Virginia | $2,503,391 | 1.0% | 74.4% |
| 31 | Northumberland County, Virginia | $2,373,237 | 0.9% | 75.3% |
| 32 | Carroll County, Virginia | $2,023,658 | 0.8% | 76.1% |
| 33 | Amelia County, Virginia | $2,019,477 | 0.8% | 76.9% |
| 34 | Charlotte County, Virginia | $1,958,555 | 0.8% | 77.6% |
| 35 | Goochland County, Virginia | $1,958,156 | 0.8% | 78.4% |
| 36 | Wythe County, Virginia | $1,928,662 | 0.8% | 79.1% |
| 37 | Lee County, Virginia | $1,916,179 | 0.7% | 79.9% |
| 38 | Frederick County, Virginia | $1,891,087 | 0.7% | 80.6% |
| 39 | Grayson County, Virginia | $1,748,906 | 0.7% | 81.3% |
| 40 | Rockbridge County, Virginia | $1,723,125 | 0.7% | 82.0% |
| 41 | Smyth County, Virginia | $1,720,060 | 0.7% | 82.7% |
| 42 | Culpeper County, Virginia | $1,679,656 | 0.7% | 83.3% |
| 43 | Madison County, Virginia | $1,570,113 | 0.6% | 83.9% |
| 44 | Louisa County, Virginia | $1,557,543 | 0.6% | 84.5% |
| 45 | King George County, Virginia | $1,552,942 | 0.6% | 85.1% |
| 46 | Prince Edward County, Virginia | $1,545,259 | 0.6% | 85.7% |
| 47 | Brunswick County, Virginia | $1,525,545 | 0.6% | 86.3% |
| 48 | Lunenburg County, Virginia | $1,489,102 | 0.6% | 86.9% |
| 49 | Orange County, Virginia | $1,467,711 | 0.6% | 87.5% |
| 50 | Middlesex County, Virginia | $1,441,938 | 0.6% | 88.0% |
| 51 | Patrick County, Virginia | $1,358,757 | 0.5% | 88.6% |
| 52 | Nottoway County, Virginia | $1,242,030 | 0.5% | 89.0% |
| 53 | Albemarle County, Virginia | $1,232,766 | 0.5% | 89.5% |
| 54 | Botetourt County, Virginia | $1,228,287 | 0.5% | 90.0% |
| 55 | Appomattox County, Virginia | $1,223,059 | 0.5% | 90.5% |
| 56 | Buckingham County, Virginia | $1,219,328 | 0.5% | 91.0% |
| 57 | Cumberland County, Virginia | $1,216,496 | 0.5% | 91.4% |
| 58 | Prince George County, Virginia | $1,215,430 | 0.5% | 91.9% |
| 59 | New Kent County, Virginia | $1,023,658 | 0.4% | 92.3% |
| 60 | Amherst County, Virginia | $999,280 | 0.4% | 92.7% |
| 61 | Clarke County, Virginia | $997,545 | 0.4% | 93.1% |
| 62 | Spotsylvania County, Virginia | $994,829 | 0.4% | 93.5% |
| 63 | Chesapeake City, Virginia | $943,108 | 0.4% | 93.8% |
| 64 | Charles City County, Virginia | $941,853 | 0.4% | 94.2% |
| 65 | Rappahannock County, Virginia | $918,044 | 0.4% | 94.6% |
| 66 | Loudoun County, Virginia | $867,892 | 0.3% | 94.9% |
| 67 | Floyd County, Virginia | $810,654 | 0.3% | 95.2% |
| 68 | Nelson County, Virginia | $794,030 | 0.3% | 95.5% |
| 69 | Highland County, Virginia | $756,831 | 0.3% | 95.8% |
| 70 | Gloucester County, Virginia | $743,564 | 0.3% | 96.1% |
| 71 | Montgomery County, Virginia | $723,851 | 0.3% | 96.4% |
| 72 | Tazewell County, Virginia | $699,768 | 0.3% | 96.7% |
| 73 | Pulaski County, Virginia | $658,180 | 0.3% | 96.9% |
| 74 | Lancaster County, Virginia | $653,421 | 0.3% | 97.2% |
| 75 | Stafford County, Virginia | $617,702 | 0.2% | 97.4% |
| 76 | Greene County, Virginia | $609,907 | 0.2% | 97.7% |
| 77 | Henrico County, Virginia | $551,345 | 0.2% | 97.9% |
| 78 | Bland County, Virginia | $512,128 | 0.2% | 98.1% |
| 79 | Virginia Beach City, Virginia | $505,085 | 0.2% | 98.3% |
| 80 | Prince William County, Virginia | $488,472 | 0.2% | 98.5% |
| 81 | Chesterfield County, Virginia | $455,476 | 0.2% | 98.6% |
| 82 | Roanoke County, Virginia | $436,353 | 0.2% | 98.8% |
| 83 | Fluvanna County, Virginia | $412,544 | 0.2% | 99.0% |
| 84 | James City County, Virginia | $356,624 | 0.1% | 99.1% |
| 85 | Powhatan County, Virginia | $334,916 | 0.1% | 99.2% |
| 86 | Giles County, Virginia | $322,905 | 0.1% | 99.4% |
| 87 | Craig County, Virginia | $273,474 | 0.1% | 99.5% |
| 88 | Mathews County, Virginia | $261,146 | 0.1% | 99.6% |
| 89 | Wise County, Virginia | $195,397 | 0.1% | 99.6% |
| 90 | Henry County, Virginia | $190,322 | 0.1% | 99.7% |
| 91 | Warren County, Virginia | $189,087 | 0.1% | 99.8% |
| 92 | Buchanan County, Virginia | $171,153 | 0.1% | 99.9% |
| 93 | Bath County, Virginia | $152,439 | 0.1% | 99.9% |
| 94 | Alleghany County, Virginia | $118,897 | 0.0% | 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 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.
