# Record diesel prices land right at harvest

> Diesel hit $6.05 a gallon just as corn and soybean farmers fired up their combines.
- Title: Record diesel prices land right at harvest · Seattletimes
- Summary: Diesel hit $6.05 a gallon just as corn and soybean farmers fired up their combines. Fuel is now one of the biggest line items in a harvest, and farmers who…
- Keywords: diesel, farming, fuel prices, harvest, commodities, news, local, Record, prices, land, right, Seattletimes
- Source: Seattletimes — https://seattletimes.com/business/diesel-prices-are-hitting-record-highs-at-a-bad-time-for-many-us-farmers
- Read time: 1 min
- Topics: diesel, farming, fuel prices, harvest, commodities, news, local
## Record diesel, worst timing
Diesel hit an all-time US high just as farmers needed it to run combines and tractors through the soybean and corn harvest.
## Six dollars a gallon
The national average hit $5.85 on Sept. 4, a first, then climbed to $6.05 by Friday, according to AAA. The six-month war with Iran scrambled global fuel flows.
## It is not just harvesting
Fuel costs follow the grain the whole way, from field to farm and farm to buyer. Every mile of hauling gets more expensive.

> It's the hauling of everything, moving the grain or the silage from the field to the farm and then from the farm to wherever they're selling it.
## 200 gallons a day
Jason Kurtz, a Missouri corn and soybean farmer, pays double for diesel this year. His combine burns 200 gallons a day and he expects 30 days of running it.

> We have to harvest. We have to run the machines. We have to use the diesel, so it cuts into our bottom line.
## Up 60% since February
Before the US and Israel went to war with Iran in late February, diesel averaged about $3.76. Crude spiked as tanker traffic through the Strait of Hormuz was disrupted.
## Cash strapped farms cut first
Fertilizer, seed and equipment already cost more this year. Kurtz is delaying some work and betting prices drop.

> That's one good thing about farming. Tomorrow will be different.
## Key takeaway

Fuel is now one of the biggest line items in a harvest, and farmers who are already cash strapped have to cut somewhere else to pay for it.