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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“Now, we don’t know if income is dependent on a trade issue, and extra payment or disaster... or any number of things that we used to not have as high on the list of potential problems.”
“We raise one-third of the total U.S. pigs raised here come from Iowa. So, one out of every three pigs is raised right here in Iowa.”
