WILLACY COUNTY, TEXAS (RFD NEWS) — Artificial intelligence is increasingly shaping the future of emergency services and digital infrastructure, but its expansion into rural Texas is raising questions about farmland use and long-term impacts on agriculture.
In Willacy County, a new data center project known as Project Kati is part of a broader push to build large-scale computing facilities in rural regions. Local EMS officials say the technology driving these facilities is already becoming essential.
“As you see, everywhere they have artificial intelligence, and so artificial intelligence requires data centers to be able to operate and to be able to answer those questions,” said Gilbert Torres, Assistant Director of Willacy County EMS.
Supporters of development say these projects bring innovation and economic opportunity, even in agricultural areas.
Members of the ag community here in South Texas recognize that these data centers are very important for the community and very important for the future, so giving up this land is not the worst thing ever,” said RFD-TV Correspondent Frank McCaffrey.
However, concerns over farmland loss and resource use have drawn attention from state agriculture leaders. Texas Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller has warned that rapid data center expansion could threaten prime agricultural land and food production.
“The unchecked spread of data centers onto prime farm and ranchland is a real and growing threat to our food supply,” Miller said, calling for agricultural freedom zones to guide development through targeted incentives.
Water usage is also a major concern in regions already facing agricultural stress. Texas A&M AgriLife Extension economist Manuel Garcia says the impact depends heavily on infrastructure and resource management.
“the indirect impact that they can have, like the use of water. If you don’t use a good system for, I mean, the cooling system and you’re using a significant amount of water, it can create actually impact indirectly a lot of the farmland that depends on the water for the use. So indirectly, it can affect the farmland,” Garcia said.
Despite these concerns, some experts say the land impact may be limited compared to overall available acreage in rural counties.
“I know there are concerns that they are trying to address the data centers as well as the elected officials to ensure, one, that it doesn’t take over all of their acreage,” Torres said.
“In terms of the size of the facility, sometimes they require a few hundred, maybe a thousand acres, which for some of those counties, farmland, we have more than 200,000 acres,” Garcia added.
As data center development continues to expand across Texas, communities are left weighing the benefits of technological growth against the preservation of farmland and agricultural resources.
Frank McCaffrey reporting for RFD News.
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