Jeremy Bowen
For many years, Ida Huddleston and her family have owned a farm in northern Kentucky. They have refused even a multimillion-dollar offer to keep it safe.
Last year, a large artificial intelligence company offered them $26 million to buy part of their farm for a planned data center. Huddleston and her family said no, explaining they did not want a data center built near them or on their 1,200 acres of farmland near Maysville, Kentucky.
The company offered $4.26 million for Ida Huddleston’s 71-acre land in Mason County. Her daughter, Delsia Bare, was offered more than $22 million for her 463-acre land. The family said the lack of clear details about the project, especially the company not sharing its name, made it impossible to agree.
“Stay, Keep, and Feed the Country”
Delsia Bare’s family has worked on the soft, rolling land near Maysville for many years. She says her grandfather and great-grandfather grew wheat there during the Great Depression. It helps provide food when people have very little.
So when men from an unnamed top-100 artificial intelligence company came last April with an offer to buy about half of their 1,200 acres, it was at nearly 10 times the normal price in Mason County.
“Stay, keep, and feed the country,” she told them. “$26 million means nothing.”
Bare rejected a huge offer of $48,000 per acre for her 463-acre farm, and her mother, Ida Huddleston, also refused $60,000 per acre for her 71-acre land.
“The peace and the natural beauty, the trees and everything here. If we sell this land, it will be fully destroyed,” Bare said. “Why give up this natural beauty just so people can sit and use computers?”
“There is no price high enough for what they plan to do. What they will destroy cannot be replaced.”
Local Worries and Hidden Details
“They call us old, foolish farmers, but we are not,” said Huddleston, who is 82, in an interview. “We understand when our food is going away, our land is going away, and when water is not safe.”
She strongly disagreed with the company’s promises of jobs and growth. “I believe they are lying. This feels like a trick,” she said.
The secret nature of the project has increased worry among local landowners. People were contacted only by middlemen who would not reveal the company’s name. Local leaders have only said it is a top-100 tech company, but cannot share more due to legal agreements.
This kind of secrecy is now common as big tech companies race to build AI data centers. They often use agreements to hide project details from early public review.
An organizer from the Sierra Club, Elisa Owen, said this lack of openness is concerning and that local people should know what is planned in their area.
A Community Split
Local officials describe the project as a rare economic chance for the county, which has about 17,000 people. The planned data center would cover 2,080 acres of farmland near Big Pond Road outside Maysville. Plans show the site could stretch almost three miles.
Land buyers say this project could create over 1,500 construction jobs and around 400 full-time jobs. It was one of the largest employers in this area.
“We are not against data centers or progress,” said Janet Garrison from the group We Are Mason County. “But this should be built in an industrial area. Using farmland like this is not a smart use of 2,000 acres, especially if only a small number of jobs are created.”
In Mason County, several families have refused to sell. Dr. Tim Grosser, who raises cattle on 250 acres with his son, turned down offers up to $35,000 per acre, more than four times the usual price. The company even told him to name his price, but he still refused.
“Money cannot buy happiness,” Grosser said.
In total, about 20 residents received offers, and 18 agreed to sell if the project moves forward. However, Bare says nothing will change her family’s decision. It is still unclear if their stand, along with others in the area, will be enough to slow down the expansion of big tech.
