Lobbying spending by top Minnesota companies

If you made a list of the Minnesota-based companies that spend the most money lobbying the federal government, you'd see some familiar names, with Medtronic and Target at the top. But there is one relatively small Minnesota company that has become a big political player.

American Crystal Sugar spends between $1 million and $2 million a year on lobbying the federal government. That's about the same level as Cargill -- a company almost 100 times its size.

Below, see how other Minnesota companies stack up in the lobbying arena.

More: Sugar's outsize influence in Washington