A Kentucky farming family has shared a powerful explanation for why they won’t sell their land, even after receiving massively inflated offers from tech companies hoping to convert local pasture into a large data-center site.
Ida Huddleston, 82, and her relatives were offered a jaw-dropping $26 million for their combined 534 acres in northern Kentucky. The proposal came from an unnamed Fortune 100 firm and was reportedly around ten times what the land is worth.
Huddleston and her daughter, Delsia Bare—who holds most of the property in her name—have become part of a growing group of landowners declining lucrative buyouts tied to the expansion of the data centers powering today’s artificial intelligence boom.
For Bare, the decision isn’t just financial; it’s rooted in purpose and tradition. Speaking to WKRC, she made it clear that money doesn’t outweigh what the farm represents, saying: “If it’s my way, I’ll stay and hold and feed a nation. 26 million doesn’t mean anything.”
They aren’t alone in facing pressure. Nearby families have reportedly been approached with similarly eye-watering figures—some accepting the payouts, while others have resisted despite continued outreach from the company.
Bare argues the offers overlook something fundamental: the land is tied to identity, security, and survival. She said: “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 also emphasized how long her family has been rooted there, explaining: “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.”
That connection, she noted, includes her family’s contributions during difficult chapters of national history. Bare added: “Even raised wheat through the Depression and kept bread lines up in the United States of America when people didn’t have anything else.”
Credit: Local 12 WKRC
Reports indicate the company is still trying to assemble land in the area, including an attempt to secure enough electricity to support the project—powering needs said to rival twice the current output of a nearby station. But Huddleston remains steadfast.
Reflecting on how quickly technology and industry have changed in her lifetime, Huddleston pushed back against stereotypes about rural communities, saying: “They call us old stupid farmers, you know, but we’re not.
“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.”
When questioned about whether a large development like a data center might boost jobs or strengthen the local economy, she dismissed the pitch outright, calling it a ‘scam’ and saying: “I say they’re a liar, and the truth isn’t in them.”
Even if the family holds the line, a facility could still end up in the vicinity if neighboring properties are sold. But Bare compared her determination to the devotion to land portrayed in Gone With the Wind.
She said: “As she was attached to that land, her spirit never would die. That’s the exact same thing for me right here.
“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.”