Diesel Prices Remain High as Farmers Ramp Up Harvest

Crude oil prices have shown signs of easing, but diesel prices are not following suit, putting even more pressure on the farm economy. Faith Parum, an economist for the American Farm Bureau Federation, said crude oil and diesel prices don’t typically follow the same track.

"The biggest reason we haven't seen those prices come down is because we're seeing a structural supply issue in the economy. Meaning, we're just seeing a lower supply across the world," Parum said. "Obviously, Russia has limited refining capacity due to the war in Ukraine. The Middle East has stopped refining capacities due to the war in Iran, and then there is additional troubles in the Red Sea-that's all continuing to bring that supply down worldwide."

Parum said the spike occurring during harvest for much of farm country has squeezed margins even further.

"So that diesel price is directly affecting your bottom line," Parum said. "Smaller margins to account for how expensive diesel prices have gotten, and that's on top of already rising production expenses and already rising fertilizer costs, really putting our producers in even further financial pressure."

In an interview with ABC 4 TV in Utah, Weber County farmer Kenny McFarland talked about the impact these diesel prices are having on all aspects of agriculture.

“The cost of diesel affects not only what we do, but it affects our inputs,” McFarland said. “All of our fertilizer, all of our seed, the cost of chemicals, the cost of tires , everything that we use on the farm, the prices go up.”