AI Boom Could Bring New Costs for Poultry Growers
Artificial intelligence may seem worlds away from the chicken house, but a new analysis suggests the rapid growth of data centers could eventually affect poultry growers across the Southeast.
Dennis Brothers, a poultry economist with the Alabama Cooperative Extension System, recently explored the issue in Southern Ag Today, a peer-reviewed publication produced by university agricultural economists and Extension specialists. He says modern poultry farms increasingly rely on internet-connected systems that allow growers to monitor ventilation, temperature and other barn conditions from virtually anywhere. As data networks expand, those tools could become even more reliable and efficient.
But data centers also require enormous amounts of electricity and water. Brothers says growing demand could put upward pressure on utility costs over time. That's especially important in leading broiler states like Alabama and Georgia, where poultry farms depend heavily on electricity for ventilation and cooling. While expanding technology may improve how poultry farms operate, he says it could also increase competition for the electricity, water and fuel those operations depend on.
To read Brothers' full analysis, visit https://southernagtoday.org/2026/07/14/data-centers-and-poultry-growers/
