Missouri farmer invites data center developers to buy his land as $6.3B project faces growing local opposition and communities push back on AI expansion

As communities across the US push back against massive data centers, Missouri farmer Blake Hurst is taking the opposite approach and inviting developers to bid on his farmland.

A Missouri farmer has offered an unusual response to the growing backlash against data centers. He wants developers to buy his farm.

Blake Hurst, a farmer in Atchison County, Missouri, and former president of the Missouri Farm Bureau, invited data center developers to bid on his property in a Wall Street Journal opinion piece.


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His pitch was simple: "Developers, make me an offer." Hurst's farm sits roughly 40 miles from the proposed White Cloud Acres project in neighboring Nodaway County, a data center campus that local reporting has valued at $6.3 billion. But the massive project has faced fierce opposition from residents and local officials.

$6.3B data center project faces pushback

Nodaway County commissioners halted the White Cloud Acres project on July 21 by approving a moratorium that could last up to six months. Officials are negotiating a development agreement with Scale Microgrids, the developer behind the project.

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A petition opposing the data center collected more than 7,000 signatures in about two months, according to the Northwest Missourian. Maryville's mayor has also said he opposes the project.

Hurst, however, believes the debate should also consider what rural communities stand to gain from major developments.

Nodaway County's population fell from 23,402 in the 2010 census to an estimated 20,300 in 2025, a decline of roughly 13%. Its largest employer is a university with declining enrollment.

Hurst pointed to projections that the proposed project could create about 130 on-site jobs and generate more than $1 billion in tax revenue over 35 years.

His argument is that rejecting the project doesn't necessarily eliminate the demand for data centers. Developers can simply find another community willing to host them.

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Data center opposition is rising

Hurst's position comes as opposition to data centers grows nationally. Emerson College polling found opposition to having a data center nearby increased from 42% in December 2025 to 63% in July. A March Gallup survey found opposition at 70%, with 48% strongly opposed.

Concerns have included electricity demand, water consumption, noise, infrastructure and the conversion of farmland. New York Gov. Kathy Hochul signed the country's first statewide data center moratorium on July 14, pausing permits for projects of 50 megawatts or more.

Some farmers are rejecting multimillion-dollar offers

The debate is also playing out among landowners. A Kentucky family reportedly rejected a $26 million offer for about 900 acres in Mason County, roughly 10 times the local going rate. A neighboring cattle farmer turned down offers of $35,000 per acre.

Developers have continued pursuing projects by redesigning sites around landowners who are willing to sell. For Hurst, that reinforces his point: Turning down a data center may change where it is built, but it may not stop development.

As the AI boom drives demand for new computing infrastructure, rural communities across America are now facing the same choice — embrace the investment, or risk watching billions of dollars move somewhere else.