A descriptive look at how little USDA farm-program support each county receives per acre versus its peers, from public federal data. 685 counties rank as underserved (receiving less USDA support per acre than most). Lower USDA $/acre often reflects pasture, specialty, or non-commodity land, not unclaimed funding.
The Underserved Score (0–100) is a descriptive, relative measure of how little USDA farm-program support a county has historically received per acre compared with other counties. It is built from three public-data components: USDA Support Gap (recorded USDA dollars per acre vs. other counties in the state), Producer Priority (beginning, women, veteran producers and rural classification per 100 farms — the groups USDA set-asides are written for), and Insurance Coverage Gap (crop-insurance policy density and loss history vs. peers). The composite is published only when all three components have data. A higher score means the county receives less USDA support per acre than its peers — which often reflects pasture, specialty, or non-commodity land use, not unclaimed funding. It is not a measure of need, deservedness, or eligibility, and it does not predict that any farm will receive funding. Sources: USDA NASS, RMA, ERS, and EWG records.