Nebraska has suspended two of the rules that normally govern farm fuel and farm trucking, after diesel shortages and high operating costs collided with the state's harvest. Governor Jim Pillen signed two executive orders in Lincoln giving temporary relief to farmers, ranchers and agricultural transporters across the state.

The first order allows highway-registered vehicles to hold, sell or use untaxed, dyed diesel fuel without facing state fines or penalties. Dyed diesel is normally reserved for off-road use, and putting it in a road-registered truck is an offence against the fuel tax rules; the order sets those penalties aside while the shortage lasts.

The same order makes diesel taxes paid while hauling Nebraska seasonally produced products and livestock on state roads refundable. Producers and haulers claim the money back by filing Form 84AG with the Nebraska Department of Revenue. The order took effect immediately.

The second order deals with the trucks themselves. Vehicles carrying seasonally produced products and livestock may now run up to 25% over legal gross and axle group weight limits without buying extra permits or paying the fees that normally go with them — a measure aimed squarely at the queue of grain and livestock loads that builds up in the weeks of harvest.

Governor Pillen has also gone to Washington. He wrote to President Donald J. Trump asking for federal intervention in the form of a temporary 90-day pause on United States diesel exports to other countries. Halting exports, the governor argued, would let domestic diesel reserves rebuild, lower costs for consumers and help producers get through harvest without severe financial strain.

"Our farmers and ranchers are the backbone of our state," Pillen said. "It's critical that I do everything in my power to make sure they are supported, especially during this season where they are working day in and day out to get the crops out of the ground."

Both orders are temporary and tied to the season rather than to a fixed change in Nebraska law. The report was filed by Susan Littlefield for American Ag Network.

Photo: Katrina Wiese / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 2.0)

Source: American Ag Network