U.S. farmers skew Republican, but many are drawing the line at land and energy hogging data centers

Some U.S. farmers in red states are vocally opposing 
data center project proposals. (Adobe Stock photo)

Land-hungry data center developers and AI supporters, such as President Donald Trump, have run into a roadblock that may be hard to circumvent: American farmers in deep-red states are actively opposing data center projects in their communities.

"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," reports Rachel Shin of Politico.

Texas Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller, who is running for reelection, doesn't see any benefit to farmers from unregulated data center builds. He told Shin, “There’s no guardrails of any kind. . . .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.”

"Miller recently proposed creating 'agriculture freedom zones' that would use federal or state tax incentives to push data center development away from agricultural land," Shin explains.

Even as Trump insists his "AI dominance" agenda will benefit rural communities, most Americans, including rural residents, don't want to live near a data center project. Shin reports, "A recent poll from Politico and Public First found [data center project] support  falls to roughly 36% if the data center is being built in their local area, within 3 miles of where they live."

Other politicians are searching for a way to limit data center projects while maintaining the president's support. Shin reports, "Pennsylvania’s Democratic Gov. Josh Shapiro, who has expressed support for data center projects, and Florida’s Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis both floated placing guardrails on Trump’s AI initiative."

Karen Dalton, who is "one of three Republicans primarying Rep. Scott Perry (R-Pa.), told Shin, "We’re taking farmland that could be used to grow food, and we’re making it available to data centers. I think that’s short-sighted. We should be more focused on our farmers that are already hurting because of the tariffs.”