When a developer bought the Frank Williams Farm in Chesapeake in August, it triggered a wave of concern the site would become a data center.
But Chesapeake resident Mike Hoffman said he soon realized the issue wasn’t just about data centers.
“The bigger question is how can we give farmers more options when they feel like the only option is to sell (their) land?” Hoffman said.
Farmers in Hampton Roads — and across the country — are dealing with economic strains, including higher farming costs, tariffs and cuts to federal farm programs. As farming becomes a less viable venture and farmers age into retirement, many are selling their land to developers or other farmers.
Today, data centers’ demand for land is just one pressure farmers face — but it’s one that has a lot of momentum.
“A lot of communities are rushing into these decisions and sort of fast tracking everything, so there is a real sense of urgency,” said Jennifer Fahy, co-executive director of Farm Aid.
Communities in Hampton Roads have tried to slow down data center development. The cities of Chesapeake, Virginia Beach and Suffolk adopted temporary moratoriums on data centers this summer. Chesapeake city council also passed an ordinance to require public input and additional approval for any future data centers.
The pressure to preserve farmland has been building for decades, Fahy said, noting that Willie Nelson started Farm Aid in 1985 in reaction to the farm crisis.
“The slogan from the '80s was ‘Get Big or Get Out,’ where farmers were encouraged to really grow that operation to as big as they could, produce as much food as they could, own as much land as they could, or just get out,” she said. “There has been this consolidation of the agriculture industry since then.”
Virginia lost nearly 10% of its farms between 2017 and 2022, WHRO previously reported.
“Instead of simply asking what happens after farmland is lost, I want to ask: How do we find that path before the land is gone?” Hoffman said.
Fahy said some farmers are getting creative to keep their farm running. One way is something called agrivoltaics.
“They're combining solar panels on the ground with a herd of goats or sheep,” she said, adding they usually opt for sheep because they’re less destructive than goats.
The solar energy is a source of income and so is the livestock, which also keeps the field trimmed.
She said this kind of approach helps farmers diversify their income while also preserving farmland for the future.
