Farmers face record diesel prices as harvest season begins
By Aaron Hegarty
Click here for updates on this story
UNDERWOOD, Iowa (KETV) — Just as harvest season gets underway, farmers are feeling the strain of record-high diesel prices.
The average price of diesel on Monday was $6.22 in Nebraska and $6.32 in Iowa, according to AAA.
Dan Pedersen, who operates a 10,000-acre farm and a feedlot with 12,000 cattle in Underwood, Iowa, said it now costs about $90 per hour to run a combine.
Pedersen said his farm is using 800 gallons of diesel daily, which adds up to an additional $75,000 in monthly fuel expenses.
“I’m not in counting our trucks that are on the road,” he said. “We had two trucks hauling cattle out of Kansas today. That would have been another $400 higher because of fuel costs. The prices of our grains have went up, so that’s helped some. But it’s just crazy, you know?”
The national average for regular gas has increased by 41% over the past year, according to AAA figures, with diesel prices climbing by 76%.
“I just wish they would get that deal settled over the Middle East,” Pedersen said. “It’s going to have to happen sometime because another year of this, and the economy and everything can’t handle this. You know, I don’t think it can handle it two or three more months.”
During the two-month harvest season, Pedersen expects to pay $150,000 more for diesel than he did last year.
“We just need to get fuel prices cheaper because everybody uses it. Everything gets hauled. And it just, the trickle-down effect is tremendous,” he said.
Please note: This story was provided to CNN Wire by an affiliate and does not contain original CNN reporting. This content carries a strict local market embargo. If you share the same market as the contributor of this article, you may not use it on any platform.