Farmers feel pinch of high fuel prices now, consumers may later

FRESNO, Calif. – The high price of fuel that powers irrigation equipment, tractors and trucks hauling produce to market is taking a toll on California farmers, and it’s only a matter of time before the pain is passed on to consumers.

“It’ll take a couple months to get through the system, but you’ll feel it,” said Stephanie Williams, a spokeswoman for the 24,000-member California Trucking Association. “It’s going to feel like you need to take out a small loan to buy groceries.”

In California, the nation’s richest agricultural state, farmers use more than 1.5 million gallons of diesel a day at the peak of harvest. The average retail price for a gallon of diesel was $3.26 on May 10, up from $2.44 around the same time last year, according to the California Energy Commission.

A wet winter and spring storms kept growers out of the fields, but now that the weather has turned warm and dry, their work has accelerated.

AP