BY HANNAH SPANGLER
The Illinois Farm Bureau Resolutions Committee approved two policy proposals addressing data centers and resource management, sending them to delegates for a vote at the organization’s Annual Meeting in December.
One of the proposals, submitted by LaSalle County and reviewed during the committee’s Nov. 5 meeting, calls for an amendment to IFB’s farmland preservation policy. It opposes the development of facilities such as data centers, cryptocurrency operations and mining sites if they threaten electric grid reliability, raise electricity costs for farmers or risk depleting aquifers in rural communities.
LaSalle County noted in its policy submittal that rising electricity costs in Illinois stem from increased reliance on out-of-state power, driven by the closure of coal-fired plants and growing demand from data centers. These facilities not only strain the electric grid but also pose serious threats to water resources, consuming billions of gallons annually for cooling.
Illinois, home to more than 200 data centers, faces mounting pressure on groundwater and municipal supplies, the county continued in the submission. This is especially an issue in small towns such as Minooka, where a proposed center could use 3 million gallons of water per day.
“This proposal did a really good job of balancing private property rights with also being respectful to communities and the resources they depend on,” said Bureau County Farm Bureau President William Anderson, chair of the IFB Resolutions State and Local Government Subcommittee, which approved LaSalle County’s submittal without adding any amendments.
A separate submittal from Ogle County that was sent to the Natural Resources (NR) Subcommittee specifically addressed concerns over the resources needed to accommodate the growing number of data centers. Similar to LaSalle County’s proposal, Ogle County was concerned about the high capacity of water needed to cool data center systems and wanted to protect water withdrawal sources.
“Resource management is a topic near and dear to Illinois Farm Bureau. A lot of people use water for irrigation and for living and life, and that should take priority,” said Bryan Stevens, chair of the NR Subcommittee about why this issue matters to the organization.
The submittal advanced by the full committee was amended by the NR Subcommittee to support requiring potential data centers to file a water withdrawal plan. This plan would need to be reviewed by the Illinois State Water Survey prior to construction and operation.
Stevens, who is the Hancock County Farm Bureau president, told FarmWeek the proposal was amended to ensure the policy applies to both zoned and non-zoned counties. He added some county boards lack the resources to address the issue, making Ogle County’s original goal of encouraging local government involvement unrealistic for all counties.
In total, the Resolutions Committee advanced 13 proposals for delegate consideration in December. Alongside the two focused on data centers and resource management, committee members also supported proposals in favor of:
- Working to add teasel to Illinois’ list of noxious weeds.
- Seeking to increase the number of farm truck plates available while maintaining a discounted rate on at least two farm plates.
- Partnering with the Illinois Department of Revenue and the Illinois Association of Assessing Officials to develop a program that recruits, trains and deploys new assessors to help reduce the backlog of property reassessments.
Counties can submit additional policy proposals for Committee consideration at the open session during IFB’s Annual Meeting. Adopted policies become public policy positions of IFB, directing the organization’s priorities and programming.
“The policy development process is what makes Farm Bureau, Farm Bureau,” said Stevens, who serves as Hancock County Farm Bureau president. “This is truly grassroots to have members and leaders from every district go over the issues.”
Content for this story was provided by FarmWeekNow.com.