The national average price of diesel is about $2.50/L
Canadian diesel prices are high.
“The price of diesel has gone up pretty much everywhere to levels that we have never seen,” Dan McTeague, president of Canadians for Affordable Energy, told CTV News Channel on Sept. 12, adding he expects the high prices to stick around for almost nine months.
The national average for diesel in Canada reached $2.50 per litre, Patrick De Haan, a senior petroleum analyst for GasBuddy, said on X on Sept. 13.
For Canadian farmers this comes at harvest when diesel is the key input to getting the crop off.
To put the increased costs into perspective, Farms.com is comparing current diesel prices with those of past years and calculating how much farmers are spending to fill different combines.
| 2026 | 2021 | 2016 | 2011 |
Average diesel price ($/L) as of Sept. 14 | $2.50 | $1.40 | $0.95 | $1.30 |
Cost of filling a John Deere S780 (1,250 L) | $3,125 | $1,750 | $1,187 | $1,625 |
Cost of filling a Case IH AF11 (1,500 L) | $3,750 | $2,100 | $1,425 | $1,950 |
Cost of filling up a Gleaner T Series (871 L) | $2,177 | $1,219 | $827 | $1,132 |
A member of Canada’s ag community calculated what higher diesel prices mean for an entire harvest.
Kate Sauser is the policy manager at Grain Growers of Canada.
“What I found is very alarming,” she wrote on X. “These rising fuel costs need to end.”
Based on her calculations of a Class 7-8 combine, a 30-day harvest and other variables, farmers are spending an additional $15,120 in fuel costs this year than they did in 2025.
None of the major farm equipment manufacturers have an electric or hybrid combine harvester available for purchase.
A French company called Terafield, however, has an electric combine known as the Moonstone.
The combine delivers about 340hp and can cover up to 74 acres per battery charge.