Farmers Increasingly Rejecting Data Center Bids For Land

Politico’s Rachel Shin reported that “the tech industry’s relentless push for data centers is colliding with farmers who see the projects as a threat to their way of life, fueling unrest in Republican primaries and vocal criticism from conservative candidates.”

“Data center proponents view the nation’s vast swaths of farmland as prime sites for the sprawling server-packed facilities needed to support President Donald Trump’s goal of making the U.S. the dominant force in developing artificial intelligence,” Shin reported. “But farmers and some Republicans vying to represent them contend that the support for the projects is sending the wrong message at a time when deep-red rural America is being buffeted by the president’s tariff agenda and the high cost of living.”

“‘There’s no oversight, there’s no regulation, there’s no organization, there’s no guardrails of any kind,’ Texas Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller, a staunch Trump supporter who is running for reelection, said of data centers,” according to Shin’s reporting. “‘So they can pop up wherever they want to, as often as they want to, and take up as much land as they want to.'”

“Data center developers target rural areas for their projects because, like farms, they require large blocks of contiguous land as well as access to substantial supplies of water and electric power,” Shin reported. “But their rapid growth has raised questions in farm country and beyond about the potential impact on those shared resources and neighboring communities.”

“Karen Dalton — one of three Republicans primarying Rep. Scott Perry (R-Pa.), a vocal supporter of Trump’s AI dominance initiative — said she’s heard from frustrated farmers who have had trouble acquiring new land in rural Pennsylvania. The district she is running to represent contains Middlesex Township, the site of a planned data center,” Shin reported. “‘We’re taking farmland that could be used to grow food, and we’re making it available to data centers,’ Dalton said. ‘I think that’s short-sighted. We should be more focused on our farmers that are already hurting because of the tariffs.’”

Farmers Increasingly Rejecting Data Center Bids for Land

Farm Progress’ Andy Castillo reported that “across the United States, farmland is a casualty in the nation’s artificial intelligence and cryptocurrency pursuits, as tech giants race to build massive computing facilities. These centers house the digital files that underpin AI, cryptocurrencies, cloud computing, self-driving tractors and a host of other emerging technologies.”

“Midwest states are quickly becoming hubs because of their centrality, comparatively inexpensive land and plentiful natural resources. Illinois has 222 data centers, and the list is growing,” Castillo reported. “Offers can be lucrative but not necessarily wanted. In November, diversified Kentucky farmer Tim Grosser turned down a $10 million offer to sell his 250-acre farm to a mysterious data center developer — five times what he paid for it 30 years ago. He’d have to sign a nondisclosure agreement to learn more.”

🚨 WATCH: An 86-year-old Pennsylvania farmer refused $15M to turn his land into an AI data center, choosing to preserve his farm instead.pic.twitter.com/uykE27n0V3

— Derrick Evans (@DerrickEvans4WV) February 20, 2026

The Guardian’s Niamh Rowe reported that “when two men knocked on Ida Huddleston’s door last May, they carried a contract worth more than $33m in exchange for the Kentucky farm that had fed her family for centuries. According to Huddleston, the men’s client, an unnamed ‘Fortune 100 company,’ sought her 650 acres (260 hectares) in Mason county for an unspecified industrial development. Finding out any more would require signing a non-disclosure agreement.”

“The unknown company was building a datacenter,” Rowe reported. “You don’t have enough to buy me out. I’m not for sale. Leave me alone, I’m satisfied,’ Huddleston, 82, later told the men.”

“Despite sums that often dwarf the land’s recent value, farmers are increasingly shutting the door. At least five of Huddleston’s neighbors gave similar categorical rejections, including one who was told he could name any price,” Rowe reported. “In Pennsylvania, a farmer rejected $15m in January for land he’d worked for 50 years. A Wisconsin farmer turned down $80m the same month. Other landowners have declined offers exceeding $120,000 per acre – prices unimaginable just a few years ago.“