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The
spike adds to an already tough year for these farmers, who also
faced higher costs for fertilizer, seeds and equipment.
Diesel hit a record price in the U.S. on Sept. 4, soaring to an
average of $5.85 a gallon for the first time as the six-month
war with Iran disrupted the world’s flow of fuel. It has gone
even higher since then, going for an average price of $6.05 a
gallon on Friday, according to AAA.
“Those prices hurt," said Paul Mitchell, a professor of
agricultural and applied economics at the University of
Wisconsin-Madison. “And it’s not just the harvesting. It’s the
hauling of everything, moving the grain or the silage from the
field to the farm and then from the farm to wherever they're
selling it.”
Jason Kurtz, a corn and soybean farmer near Forest City,
Missouri, said he was paying twice as much for diesel this year.
His combine uses 200 gallons (760 liters) of fuel a day; he
expected to run it for 30 days. He also needed diesel for a
tractor and trucks.
“We have to harvest," he said in an interview at his farm about
90 miles (145 kilometers) outside Kansas City on Tuesday. “We
have to run the machines. We have to use the diesel, so it cuts
into our bottom line.”
Kurtz, 49, said his finances were “already tight” this year
after he also had to pay more for fertilizer and chemicals.
American diesel prices are now 60% higher than they were before
the U.S. and Israel launched their war against Iran in late
February, when the national average was about $3.76 per gallon,
according to AAA. Prices quickly climbed as the cost of crude
oil — the main ingredient in diesel, as well as gasoline —
skyrocketed amid disruptions to tanker traffic in the Strait of
Hormuz because of the war.
“Farms that are cash strapped, they’re the ones that are most
having to figure out what to cut to make this work," Mitchell
said. “There are a lot of farms facing that.”
Kurtz, who voted for President Donald Trump, said he planned to
hold off on some farm work until later, when he was hopeful
diesel prices would fall.
“That’s one good thing about farming," he said. “Tomorrow will
be different.”
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Thanawala reported from Atlanta.
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