Farmers Feeling Pinch From Fuel Prices
Sep. 4–High fuel prices are causing Gadsden corn grower Heath Hill to delay harvest — which should be going on now — to see if his crop will dry more in the fields.
Corn growers often use propane dryers to prepare harvested corn for market.
But with gasoline prices surging past $3 per gallon, and the cost of other fuels such as propane and diesel also on the rise, many farmers like Hill fear this year’s harvest will reap exorbitant fuel bills.
In Hill’s case, he doubts corn will fetch more than $2 per bushel this year while the cost of drying alone will likely top $1 per bushel.
“There’s no way we can keep on going like this,” Hill said. “The government is going to have to come in and help us.”
Until then, Hill said he’s leaving his corn in the field longer than usual, hoping Mother Nature will cut him a break and dry some of the corn.
And Hill said he won’t bother to plant winter wheat this year. The fuel costs are too much, he said.
Farmers’ rising costs include more than just diesel prices, said Aaron Wood, executive director of the S.C. Soybean Board.
Farmers are starting to get hit by increasing delivery fees or fuel surcharges attached to the bills for chemicals they need.
“One farmer I talked to bought lime for $50 a ton and paid $24 a ton for delivery,” Wood said. “Lime used to cost $24 a ton and a few dollars to deliver.”
As harvest time approaches for other crops, farmers also are concerned about how long high fuel prices will stay high.
Dale Player, secretary and treasurer of the S.C. Cotton Board, said he stockpiled diesel fuel in tanks like most farmers.
He has enough fuel to start the harvest later this month but expects to need more to finish harvesting cotton on his 900 acres before the end of October.
“It may effect budgeting in an adverse manner, but at this point you don’t have a choice,” he said.
S.C. Agriculture commissioner Hugh Weathers said those high prices might stay high because already tight supplies likely will grow even tighter.
The Environmental Protection Agency said it is temporarily suspending the tax levied on dyed diesel fuel when used by overtheroad truckers.
The significance is that farmers generally use dyed diesel, which is marked with dye to show it is not subject to some taxes.
With truck drivers expected to tap into this supply, it means more people will be looking to buy the same fuel.
Weather’s family’s farm has contacted neighbors to organize a system in which they can pool fuel if needed.
“That’s the one area I’m real proud with — how the farming community works with each other,” he said.
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