IONIA COUNTY, Mich. — As diesel prices climb, farmers in Ionia County say the rising costs could affect everything from planting crops to the price you pay at the store.
For Jeff Sandborn of Sandborn Farms, he says nearly every stage of farming depends on diesel.
“This equipment uses diesel, and that's the primary fuel on any farm in Michigan, really,” he said. "The fertilizing, the tillage, all that stuff uses diesel, so it'll incrementally make our cost of production go up.”
The head of petroleum analysis at GasBuddy, Patrick De Haan, says local farmers are getting hit hard by the rising oil prices.
“We've never seen quite this bad of an alignment for diesel, especially for farmers,” De Haan said.
He points to global tensions, including conflict involving the U.S. and Iran, as a major factor driving oil prices. If those tensions ease, De Haan says diesel could stabilize in the mid-to-upper $3 per gallon range. If not, he says prices could climb closer to $5 in the coming months.
Sandborn says disruptions in global supply chains are also affecting fertilizer prices.
“Some of the fertilizer that we use in this country comes from the Middle East, so that normal flow of fertilizer has been disrupted,” he said, adding that prices could continue to rise if the situation doesn’t improve.
Sandborn says higher production costs on the farm often translate into higher prices at the grocery store.
“It’s affected the cost of production,” Sandborn explained. “And when the market sees that, it tends to trend up.”
Still, despite the financial pressure, Sandborn remains cautiously optimistic.
“We’ve seen this before, it's always at different levels and we’ve gotten through it,” he said. “So I’m guessing we’ll get through this.”
