Full fields, empty tanks

Diesel shortage could hinder wheat harvest

Forget about high fuel prices. As harvest nears in western Kansas, the bigger concern is fuel supply. “I’m telling our producers to get their tanks full,” said Pat Peterson, general manager of the United Plains Ag cooperative in Sharon Springs. “Supply is more important than price.”

A shortage of diesel fuel supplies is the result of a combination of weather and maintenance problems at refineries and terminals in the region that have caused slowdowns in production and problems with delivery.

Storms the weekend of the Greensburg tornado severely damaged the loading rack and two above-ground storage tanks at the Magellan terminal near Great Bend.

Refinery problems in Colorado and Oklahoma have caused a short supply of fuel, leaving the Magellan terminal near Scott City — which supplies most of the cooperatives in an 80-mile radius — short of fuel. Problems in eastern Colorado have sent producers there into Kansas looking for fuel, putting further pressure on supplies at Scott City.

The Wichita Eagle (Kansas)