Blake Hurst argues that rural communities should embrace data center development to reverse economic decline.
Blake Hurst, a Missouri farmer, argues that rural communities should accept data center development to combat the slow depopulation and economic decline facing rural areas. In a recent opinion piece for the Wall Street Journal, Hurst addresses common concerns regarding water usage, electricity consumption, and the loss of farmland. He contends that Missouri has sufficient water and that electricity is a renewable resource that can be generated as needed. Furthermore, Hurst points out that many farmers are struggling to break even on crops like corn and soybeans. He suggests that data centers offer a significant economic opportunity, citing the proposed White Cloud Acres data center in Nodaway County as a project that could generate over a billion dollars in tax revenue over 35 years. While acknowledging the emotional attachment many people have to family land, Hurst argues that farming is a business and that land can be moved to a nearby location. He warns that if rural areas continue to reject these modern factories for data, they will accelerate their own decline.