Upwind Report

Glyphosate use in Polk County, Minnesota

Estimated farm glyphosate use in Polk County, Minnesota was 269 to 274 pounds per square mile of county land in 2019, higher than 80% of US counties.

Map of Polk County, Minnesota 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 land269 to 274lbTop 20% in the US
US
584th of 3,060
Minnesota
40th of 87
Per square mile of cropland291 to 297lb

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 Polk County against the US county median, with the source, to post or send.

Since 2000

Up from 5.3 in 2000 to 274 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
20005.35.3
20015863
20023232
20037484
2004137142
2005137137
2006116122
2007132137
2008174180
2009212212
2010301307
2011259264
2012391391
2013333338
2014343348
2015322327
2016327327
2017348348
2018295295
2019269274
See Polk 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 Polk County, Minnesota 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.