“We Are Mason County” opened its Sept 20, 2025, data center discussion with a startling but misrepresented claim. They claimed that Grayfinch and a Data Center campus would consume 23% of Mason County’s prime farm land.

They correctly stated that the two proposed projects might consume 8,300 acres. Then they used a skillful sleight of hand when they then pointed out that Mason County’s Comprehensive Plan Draft and the USDA Soil Survey (1986) identified roughly 34,000 acres of “prime farmland.”

What they failed to mention is just as important:

  • The same USDA reports show that Mason County has a total land area of 157,683 acres.
  • The USDA Agricultural Census (1987) recorded 150,070 acres in farms.

Neither side has conducted a detailed site-by-site analysis. But it is important to recognize that Mason County’s topography is dominated by undulating to very steep slopes and cut by many small streams. USDA defines “prime farmland” as land with less than a 6% slope. It is highly doubtful that Mason County contains any single block of 8,300 acres that could legitimately be considered all “prime farmland.”

A more realistic way to view the numbers is this: if both projects moved forward, they would account for 8,300 ÷ 150,070 = just 5.53% of the county’s total “farm” acreage. In other words, only a small fraction of farmland would be devoted to an innovative new use, while the overwhelming majority would remain in traditional agriculture.

Crop Livestock Income Trends

For generations, Mason County families relied on tobacco, dairy, and industry to provide a steady income and tax revenue. Those pillars have either disappeared or been greatly diminished. Tobacco quotas are gone. Dairy barns have emptied. Factories that once employed hundreds have closed their doors. Yet county expenses — for schools, infrastructure, and public services — have not gone away.

That is why new investment matters. Projects like these have the potential to generate millions of dollars in lease payments to local landowners and significant tax revenue for the county. Those dollars can replace the income streams our families and communities lost when the old economic engines collapsed. Instead of looking only at the acres, we should also look at the future income these acres can produce for our citizens and our county budget.