Kentucky Family Turns Down $26 Million for Farm from Data Center Developer

A northern Kentucky community has overcome the Great Depression a century ago and a poverty rate nearly twice the national average. Residents have been tested again and again. But few of Mason County’s 17,000 residents in Mayfield demonstrated their commitment to the community, their traditions, and their land more than Ida Huddleston and her daughter Delsia Bare.

Because of that commitment, the mother and daughter may be the most famous residents since legendary singer and actress Rosemary Clooney.  

“Stay and hold and feed a nation,” Bare told WKRC-TV in Cincinnati about the family’s commitment to keep doing what it has been doing for generations.

“They call us old stupid farmers, you know, but we’re not,” Huddleston said. “We know whenever our food is disappearing, our lands are disappearing.” 

The mother and daughter told various media outlets that an anonymous developer approached them with a stunning offer. Their farmland was likely worth $6,000 in today’s market. However, the company would pay 10 times that amount.

Family turns down $26 million offer

That could add up to a $26 million fortune. 

“No” and “no” were the answers from the two women.

Their steadfastness to their farmland brought attention from all over the country. “People,” the magazine that covers the world’s most famous movie stars and entertainers profiled their determination. 

Kentucky data center still moves forward

But developers may find another way to get their 2,000-acre, 400-gigagwatt data center. Huddleston and Bare said other farm families could not resist their own offers and will sell their properties for the project that government officials have kept secret from neighbors.

That secrecy has inflamed tensions from residents who want to know what outsider wants to transform part of the region with the data center project. Data centers can provide some of the infrastructure for the country’s increasing reliance on artificial intelligence. But critics say they also take valuable farmland out of production, raise electricity costs, and can strain water supplies.

Supporters, though, see economic potential for the Mason County region with several hundred jobs. WCPO-TV in Cincinnati reported that local leaders want to rezone 28 properties to accommodate the project.

RELATED: A Pennsylvania farmer declined an offer of $15 million for a data center project. This organization helped the farmer preserve his property for the future.

Trump Administration Allows E15 Summer Waiver

The Republican-led Congress has been unable to find agreement on a permanent, year-round agreement to expand sales of E15 fuel, the 15% blend that increases demand for corn. Meanwhile, the Trump administration has followed actions from the previous Biden administration and waived anti-smog rules that prevent summer sales of E15 fuel.

"EPA is working with our federal partners to reduce unnecessary costs and uncertainty and ensure that gas prices remain affordable for all Americans through the summer," EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin said in a statement. "This emergency action will provide American families with relief by increasing fuel supply and consumer choice."

Gas prices have soared more than $1 per gallon since President Donald Trump authorized military strikes on Iran. Diesel prices have also strained budgets for agricultural producers. Prices hit record levels and surpassed $7 per gallon in California.

RELATED: Corn and soybean leaders warned politicians in Washington, D.C. last fall that they need help. Attempts at new trade deals have not yet produced agreements that led to more comfortable commodity prices.