A Northern Kentucky woman and her mother have declined a $26 million offer to sell part of their farmland, saying they do not want it developed into a data center.
Delsia Bare and her mother, Ida Huddleston, own about 1,200 acres of farmland outside Maysville. Last April, an unnamed company approached them about purchasing roughly half the property for a planned facility, offering roughly ten times the local market value, according to WKRC Local 12.
“Stay and hold and feed a nation,” Bare said. “$26 million doesn’t mean anything.” She said the family has farmed the land for generations. “My grandfather and great-grandfather and a whole bunch of family have all lived here for years, paid taxes on it, fed a nation off of it. Even raised wheat through the Depression and kept bread lines up in the United States of America when people didn’t have anything else,” she said.
NEW: Kentucky family rejects $26 million offer to convert part of their farm into a data center despite the offer being about 10 times the going rate for farmland in the area.
— Collin Rugg (@CollinRugg) March 24, 2026
"If it's my way, I'll stay and hold and feed a nation. 26 million doesn't mean anything."
"As long as… pic.twitter.com/eK9gTXmwq0
Bare said she is among dozens of landowners approached by the anonymous buyer, described as a major artificial intelligence company. Land in Mason County is valued at about $6,000 per acre, while the offer she received was roughly ten times that amount, according to New York Post.
Huddleston, 82, said she has no interest in selling. “They call us old stupid farmers, you know, but we’re not,” she said. “We know whenever our food is disappearing, our lands are disappearing, and we don’t have any water—and that poison. Well, we know we’ve had it.”
She rejected claims that the project would bring economic benefits. “I say they’re a liar, and the truth isn’t in them. That’s what I say. It’s a scam,” she said.
Bare compared her attachment to the land to the character Scarlett O’Hara in Gone With the Wind. “As long as I’m on this land—as long as it’s feeding me—as long as it’s taking care of me—there’s nothing that can destroy me if I’ve got this land,” she said.
Despite their refusal, Bare said the company revised its plans using land from other owners who agreed to sell, meaning the data center could still be built nearby. Zoning requests have been filed to rezone nearly 28 agricultural parcels totaling more than 2,000 acres near Big Pond Pike, Germantown Road, and Valley Pike Road. Public meetings on the proposal are scheduled for March 25 and 26 at the Maysville Community and Technical College Fields Auditorium, according to local authorities.
Economic development officials said the project could create hundreds of construction and full-time jobs in the county. Tyler McHugh, director of the Maysville-Mason County Industrial Development Authority, said the data center could become one of the region’s largest employers, with around 400 permanent positions and more than 1,500 construction jobs, according to LEX 18.
Similar developments have emerged nationally as tech companies expand data center operations in rural areas. Last week, Amazon Data Services purchased the Virginia Science and Technology Campus from George Washington University to convert it into a data center. Microsoft has also planned 15 data centers in Mount Pleasant, Wisconsin, after acquiring land there in 2024, according to the Biz Times.
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