Data center development bringing new challenges for Ohio farmers and rural communities

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The rapid growth of data centers continues to be a key issue across the Midwest.

Brad Bales, senior director of state and national policy with Ohio Farm Bureau, says questions remain about the long-term impacts of these projects.

“As a ratepayer, we shouldn’t be taking on the burden in order to make sure that these facilities have the electricity that they need,” he says. “Water quantity, how much are these things going to draw? Water quality is a big issue, especially for the agriculture community. We don’t want to see your water quality affected by the proliferation of these facilities.”

More than 130 local municipalities and townships across the state currently have active moratoriums stopping new data center development as communities continue to weigh the benefits of the projects.

Southern Ohio farmer Eric Tipton says land use competition continues to grow.

“It’s brought up in every meeting,” he says. “It’s a really tight rope that they’re walking here with personal property rights. We need to be doing right by the landowners and by farmers, but also doing right by the public should definitely be at the top of our priority list.”

Bales tells Brownfield policy solutions are needed soon.

“In the state of Ohio, we’ve lost over a million acres of farmland over the past twenty years,” he says. “These companies are coming in and offering ridiculous sums of money that a normal farmer cannot afford.”

Bales says finding a path forward that benefit the ag community and economic development remains a top priority for the organization heading into 2027.

AUDIO: Brad Bales, Ohio Farm Bureau