Rural America’s broadband use is surging as more precision ag tools come online, but that digital growth has a price. Data centers are moving into small towns and energy supplies are feeling the strain.
“If you look at some of the studies that have been done and the estimates around energy consumption, we are headed for a supply-demand imbalance in the energy complex because of AI in the not-too-distant future,” said Jeff Johnston, lead economist for digital infrastructure, CoBank.
Johnston says while there might be a lot of challenges ahead, he calls the whole process a big opportunity for rural America.
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“It’s a falsehood to call beef from another country ‘Product of the USA.’”
“When you’re a small family farm, security is often an afterthought, if a thought at all.”
“I don’t think we’re going to see cattle coming across the border at all because of that increase in their cases in Mexico.”
