Farmers in the USA are refusing to sell land for the construction of AI data centers.

Developing infrastructure for artificial intelligence technologies requires significant areas of land. To accommodate server capacities, cooling systems, and backup power supplies, developers often require hundreds of acres of land. In the US, there is a trend of purchasing agricultural land for the construction of such facilities, which is causing resistance from local landowners.

Pennsylvania farmer Mervin Raudabaugh rejected an offer to sell his 261-acre plot. Investors offered about $15.7 million, which is approximately $60,000 per acre, for the construction of an AI data center complex. Instead, Raudabaugh entered into an agreement as part of a land conservation program, receiving $1.9 million (about $7,200 per acre). This transaction places an easement on the territory that permanently prohibits the use of the plot for commercial, industrial, or residential purposes, securing an exclusively agricultural status for the land.

A similar case occurred in the state of Kentucky, where a farming family refused a $26 million deal for half of their land, which totals 1,200 acres. The offer from an anonymous buyer exceeded the market value of $43,000 per acre, while the average price in the region is about $6,000. The owners justified their refusal by their unwillingness to exchange their traditional way of farming for the operation of an industrial facility with a high noise level and rising energy costs.

The problem of using land resources for the needs of the AI industry is becoming noticeable. Large facilities, such as xAI's Colossus 2 in Shelby (Tennessee), occupy 100 acres, and the Riot Platforms Rockdale complex in Texas covers 200 acres. The operation of such centers is accompanied by the installation of many powerful generators, which often leads to complaints about air quality and noise pollution in nearby areas, where local communities are now initiating land rezoning processes to limit such construction.