Soaring fuel prices in the US have added thousands of dollars to farmers’ costs this year, according to Ty Higgins, a spokesman for the Ohio Department of Agriculture.
He told Russia’s RIA Novosti news agency this week that record-high diesel prices have resulted in the cost of sowing crops to double.
“Diesel is not the only, but the most necessary fuel in agriculture,” Higgins said. “When you think about the sowing season, imagine how many tractors use diesel, working day and night. What used to require $300-400 a day last year now reaches a thousand dollars,” he added.
In the United States, diesel accounts for as much as 15% of a farm’s overall expenses, according to the California Farm Bureau.