The American Farm Bureau Federation has asked President Trump to take steps to bring down diesel prices, including a temporary suspension of the federal highway diesel tax, as farmers and ranchers face record fuel costs in the middle of harvest, Northern Ag Network reports.
"Higher diesel expenses are hitting farmers at one of the most fuel-intensive times of the year: harvest," Farm Bureau president Zippy Duvall wrote in a letter to the president. He said everything on the farm, from tractors, combines and irrigation equipment to moving crops, livestock and inputs, runs on diesel, and that farmers "cannot postpone harvest or simply stop using diesel when prices rise."
The national average on-highway diesel price has reached $6.38 a gallon, and farm diesel in the heart of the Corn Belt has climbed to nearly $6 a gallon. The federal highway diesel tax is currently more than 24 cents a gallon.
The Farm Bureau also urged the administration to waive federal penalties for emergency use of dyed diesel, the untaxed fuel meant for off-road farm use, on highways. At least 10 states have taken similar measures against high fuel prices.
Photo: Tim McCabe, USDA NRCS / Wikimedia Commons (public domain)
Source: Northern Ag Network
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