Farm Action joined a coalition of farmers, ranchers, and rural organizations urging elected officials to take immediate action on the rapid expansion of data centers in rural America.
In an open letter led by the American Agriculture Movement (AAM), the coalition warns that data center growth poses “an existential threat” to already struggling farm communities, arguing that these projects are driving up farmland prices, increasing electricity costs, straining water supplies, and weakening local economies.
These factors are accelerating the ongoing farm crisis, as farmers are already under pressure due to low commodity prices, high input costs, and rising bankruptcies.
“Between 2017 and 2022, more than 140,000 farms closed down, and data show this trend continuing, as farm bankruptcy rates rose 46% in 2025. Additional pressure from data centers in an already extremely difficult economic landscape, risks hollowing out rural economies and is wreaking havoc on family farmers, farm and food workers, and public health,” the letter states.
As the letter indicates, unchecked data center development adds yet another burden on farm communities, forcing them to compete for resources and threatening “the fabric of rural communities,” as the letter states.
The signers are calling on local, state, and federal governments to pause new data center approvals and construction until stronger safeguards are in place to protect farmland, water, affordable electricity, and community health. They also ask officials to address harms already caused in places where data centers have been built, depleting wells or aquifers.
As the letter lays out, unchecked data center development is a national rural policy issue—not just a local zoning matter.
