Upwind Report

Glyphosate use in Mercer County, Illinois

Estimated farm glyphosate use in Mercer County, Illinois was 471 pounds per square mile of county land in 2019, higher than 94% of US counties.

Map of Mercer County, Illinois and nearby counties, coloring each county's cropland by estimated farm glyphosate use per square mile of county land in the 2019 high estimate. Darker colors mean more use.

2019 numbers

Per square mile of county land471lbTop 6% in the US
US
183rd of 3,060
Illinois
24th of 102
Per square mile of cropland502lb

Ranks are by use per square mile of county land, on the 2019 high estimate, among US counties with a value. Counties with the same value share a rank.

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A picture of Mercer County against the US county median, with the source, to post or send.

Since 2000

Up from 118 in 2000 to 471 in 2019. Pounds per square mile of county land, high estimate.

Every year's numbers
Glyphosate per square mile of county land by year, in pounds
YearLowHigh
2000118118
2001220220
2002182182
2003241241
2004214214
2005295295
2006268268
2007321321
2008375375
2009306306
2010434434
2011466466
2012391391
2013487487
2014487492
2015487487
2016492492
2017519525
2018466466
2019471471
See Mercer County on the map

About these numbers

The main number is the county's estimated farm glyphosate use for the year divided by all of its land, water left out. A county with a little farmland can use a lot per square mile of cropland and still have far less in total than a county with more farmland, so the whole-county number is the one the map colors, ranks and compares.

These are county estimates, not records. They don't show which fields were sprayed or how much any one field got.

USGS makes a low and a high estimate, which fill in use that farms didn't report in different ways.

Per square mile of cropland is the same total spread evenly over the county's cropland only, so it's higher than the whole-county number wherever only part of Mercer County, Illinois is farmland.

Numbers are in pounds per square mile. The source gives kilograms per square kilometer, and 1 kg per km² is about 5.7 pounds per square mile.

Source: Hengl & Brungard from USGS county estimates, 2000–2019 (CC BY 4.0). Land area: US Census Bureau, 2020.

This page shows estimated farm use only. It says nothing about health and is not medical advice.