Family says ‘no’ to $26m bid to build AI data center at ‘priceless’ Generations Farm | –

A northern Kentucky farming family has rejected a $26 million offer from a Fortune 100 company seeking to build a large AI-related data center, choosing instead to keep land they say holds far more value for money.The Huddleston family’s decision has drawn attention as a conflict between an expanding digital infrastructure and the farmland it has long controlled, a tension that is spreading across parts of the United States.

Generations Farm is at the center of a growing conflict

The Huddleston family’s 1,200-acre farm in Mason County, Kentucky, has been in operation for generations, producing cattle that feed the broader region. The land has endured major historical periods, including the Great Depression, when the family helped feed local communities. This continuity is now under pressure. According to Delicia Beer, a family member, an undisclosed company approached them in April of last year with a $26 million offer for the nearly 900 acres of the property, located just outside Maysville city limits. The plan is to build a large-scale data center campus. “The heartbreak of that [the land] He could leave is the first thing I feel. “Chest pain literally where the heart is,” Barry told Live 5 WCSC.

Her mother, Ida Huddleston, immediately rejected the suggestion.

“I said, ‘No, mine is priceless.’” What I have here, I want to convey. “What God asked me to do was keep it until I finished it and then pass it on to the next generation,” she said.

Economic weight project

The proposed development would extend far beyond the Huddleston land. Plans call for the rezoning of 28 properties, covering a total of more than 2,000 acres.Matt Wallingford, Maysville City Manager, told the outlet that the scale of the potential project is significant, calling it a “big deal for us.” The data center could generate more than 1,000 construction jobs over 8 to 10 years, along with more than 100 permanent jobs averaging $100,000 annually, Wallingford said. He also noted that the state tariff would require the company to finance additional infrastructure. “I know that’s a lot, but I know that the state of Kentucky has passed a tariff that requires the project to pay for the entire energy cost, and that means building a second power plant equivalent to the one we have now, at no cost to taxpayers.

He said there would be no increase in prices for those who get electricity from RECC. He added that the facility will use a closed water system to reduce the risk of contamination, and that its waste production will be similar to existing retailers or large factories.

Concerns about land and water and their long-term impact

For the Huddleston family, the issue extends beyond a single sale. They have raised concerns about pressure on water systems, pressure on the electricity grid and the permanent loss of fertile agricultural land. “They call us all stupid farmers, but we are not,” the family said. “We know that when our food disappears, our land disappears.”

Wallingford acknowledged these concerns but noted that the land still retains its value even if its use changes. “I will agree to that,” he said. “But that doesn’t mean the buildings can’t be reused with that infrastructure there. Our industrial authority will be recruiting new businesses to come in, so I think that land will be valuable if the data center is located there.”

“Mine is priceless”

For Ida Huddleston, the decision is also personal. Her late husband built her house on the land, and she says she intends to stay there. “He’s here with me all the time telling me what I’m going to do on the farm the next day and the next, just the way he would like it to be. It was something else,” she said. She and Bear have made it clear that no financial offer will change their position. The family said it will continue to resist the proposed development, even as pressure grows from a project that local officials say could reshape the area’s economy.