ABILENE, TEXAS (RFD News) — Texas agriculture leaders say the rapid growth of data centers is creating concerns about farmland loss and pressure on rural infrastructure.
Texas Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller recently spoke with RFD News Correspondent Frank McCaffrey about legislation promoting Agriculture Freedom Zones, which would encourage data centers to build on less-productive land rather than prime farmland by offering tax incentives.
“It doesn’t regulate data centers; it encourages them through tax incentives to build in less productive farmland,” Miller said. “Right now, they’re taking up our very best farmland. And when you do that, when you pave it over, and when you put in data centers and solar farms, we never get that land back; it’s gone. So this would redirect them to building brownfields, shallow soil, less productive land.”
Miller says some Texas communities are already seeing major impacts from the projects, citing rising hotel costs and the expansion of RV parks in areas tied to data center growth. The discussion also touched on ideas inspired by Elon Musk, including AI data centers in orbit powered by solar energy and offshore facilities.
“Let’s put them in outer space, put them up on it, make a space station, put them up there,” Miller said. “If anybody can do it, Elon Musk, put them out. There’s some talk about putting them in the ocean. We don’t farm that, other than seafood, which is a big business. But I think they could coexist with, you know, seafood and data centers. They might even, who knows, might even complement each other.”
South Texas Congressman Henry Cuellar says states are beginning to examine more closely the long-term effects that large data centers could have on communities.
“States are looking at this. I know Maine has a state that wants to put a pause on big data centers, you know, so they can study them,” Cuellar said. “And I think it’s something that we have to look at. You know, we can stay behind technology, but again, anytime technology comes along, we’ve got to be cautious about the collateral effects to the communities.”
Cuellar adds that any major restrictions in Texas would likely need to come from the state legislature.
Frank McCaffrey reporting for RFD News.
