The Datacenter Assault on Farms

By Douglas McIntyre  •  July 4, 2026
Efrem Efre Pexels

As resistance to data centers grows, their owners have begun expanding their footprints into farms. While it would seem to be a way to move away from population centers where many have faced objections primarily due to water and electricity use, the strategy has not worked well.

Among the objections raised in rural areas is that once the farmland is gone, it cannot be reclaimed. While this is obnoxious, it is a challenge to the economic future of farm owners.

Another object is water and electricity use. Water use is critical to cities and towns. But it is also essential for farm irrigation. Moving centers to farmlands simply means fewer people can object. However, their livelihoods are still on the line. The same is true with the electricity used by farms. Some farm fields have been converted into sites for solar installations, but farmers often pay to lease the land. So far, there is no evidence that data center owners plan a similar model.

The political fight over the use of electricity and water can be as active for farmers as for towns. Politicians who have fought the construction of AI data farms can garner votes, even if the population is sparse. A vote is a vote. This may be especially true for local elections. 

One advantage data center owners have when they target farms is that, so far, their footprint is a small fraction of farmland when spread across the nation. The figure today is probably less than 1%. That is not close to the percentage of data center use in more populated areas. 

One thing that city or town dwellers have in common is that their objections are often loud and visible. That does not only draw political resistance. It exposes data centers to media scrutiny. This adds fuel to the national debate.

According to The Information, construction of over 300 data centers has been canceled or delayed. The same analysis applies to current cancellations; the medium says the count will grow and that it will make each cancellation public. Its figures are widely followed.

Data center owners may have thought that moving to farmland would work. It may have seemed that way, but, to a large extent, it hasn’t worked.

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