Rainy weather is giving many Michigan farmers a break from the fall harvest season.
But nothing is giving farmers much relief from historically high diesel prices.
Diesel prices in Michigan spiked last week to $6.89 a gallon. Since then, according to AAA Michigan, the price Wednesday had slipped to $6.71.It’s an improvement, but still $3 more a gallon than a year ago.
Dave Rupprecht is a third-generation farmer in Tuscola County. He said the price of diesel is taking a bite out of what he expects to earn from his corn and soybean crops.
“If we can market it at a little higher price, maybe we can offset some of those expensive diesel costs, but as of right now until we get the crop off … and see what we have on the field, it’s still an unknown,” said Rupprecht.
Teresa Sissung is the commodity and regulatory relations manager for the Michigan Farm Bureau.
From harvesting crops in the field to moving them to processors and elevators, Sissung said diesel prices are affecting farmers across the state. She said farm equipment uses hundreds of gallons of diesel a week.
“They are going through so much fuel that they still have to have deliveries all the time,” said Sissung, “There are some farms that they have to have a fuel truck come to their place basically every single day just to stay ahead of the fuel usage from their equipment.”
Diesel prices have been affected by the war with Iran and the war between Russia and Ukraine. Neither conflict appears close to ending.
President Donald Trump is said to be considering a diesel export ban, with hopes that would ease prices about 30 cents a gallon.
The U.S. is a major diesel exporter. According to the U.S. Energy Information Agency, the U.S. exports more than 1 million barrels of diesel fuel a day, with roughly half going to central and South America.
Breyon Williams, the chief economist at the Washington-based progressive think tank, Groundwork Collaborative, said an export ban may keep more diesel in the U.S., but doubts it will actually reach parts of the country far from the Gulf Coast where is it produced.
“It’s very difficult to move that diesel from the Gulf Coast to the rest of the country,” said Williams, “It’s slow. It’s expensive.”
Michigan corn growers say they support suspending gas taxes and a diesel price rebate for farmers.
