Iran war disruptions push US diesel above $6.51 a gallon

John Boyd Jr. paid roughly $1,000 to fill his tractor with diesel priced at about $7 a gallon on Saturday — nearly double what he was paying a year ago.

Boyd, a fourth-generation farmer in southwest Virginia who grows soybeans, corn and wheat and raises beef cattle, told NPR’s Morning Edition that the cost is hitting during corn harvest, when his combines and other heavy equipment run constantly. “This is a national farm crisis for farmers,” Boyd said. “I’m having to come up with money that’s really not in the budget.”

Boyd does not store diesel on his farm. He fills a truck with a couple hundred gallons at a time, brings it back and transfers the fuel into his combine. To cover the soaring cost of fuel, he said, he is shifting money from other farm expenses. “I’m, as my daddy would say, robbing Peter to pay Paul,” Boyd said.

The national average for diesel has climbed to more than $6.51 a gallon, according to AAA, surpassing the previous record of about $5.85 a gallon that was broken at the beginning of September. Corn is selling for about $5 per bushel, leaving farmers little margin to absorb the additional fuel cost.

NPR reported the diesel surge is part of a broader global fuel crunch that intensified after the United States and Israel attacked Iran on Feb. 28. Disruptions to oil shipments through the Middle East, including the Strait of Hormuz, have pushed crude prices higher, while reduced diesel supplies from the region have tightened fuel markets in the United States, Europe and Asia.

As founder and president of the National Black Farmers Association, Boyd said more than 400 Black farmers are at risk of losing their farms and need financial assistance. He added: “A lot of these farmers voted for this president, but now they find themselves losing their farm and no help from the administration.”

In a sidebar to Boyd’s interview, NPR noted that oil companies have reported “sky-high profits thanks to wartime crude prices.” The digital version of Boyd’s interview was edited by Suzanne Nuyen.