US diesel prices hit record high at $6.32 a gallon on Thursday, tightening the squeeze on Scott Belden in the middle of harvest. The Broken Arrow, Oklahoma rancher said the fuel bill is hitting his operation now, not later.
90 to 100 gallons a day is what Belden says he burns during harvest, and that pace is adding $1,000 to $1,400 more a week to his business. “It don't take no [mathematician] to figure out that it's costing me $1,000 to $1,400 more a week,” he told News.
Scott Belden's harvest fuel bill
55-year-old Belden described the strain in plain terms: “It's probably the most stressful time in my life.” He said his vehicles and equipment all run on diesel, so the higher price reaches every part of the ranch's harvest work.
more than 65% is how much diesel prices have risen since the war began in February, according to AAA. That jump comes while Belden is running custom harvesting for hay, a line of work he called “absolutely unprofitable” with fuel costs at this level.
Donald Trump, Vladimir Putin, and 300,000 tons
300,000 tons of Russian diesel fuel is what the president agreed to import last week in a deal with Vladimir Putin. Experts said that volume will not do a lot to bring costs down, which leaves the current price spike carrying through harvest for now.
“If I want to continue to operate, I'm going to buy diesel. No matter what the price is, I'm going to buy diesel,” Belden said. He also said, “The lifeblood of America is diesel fuel. Everything you eat, consume, wear is delivered with a diesel-powered vehicle. So, I do believe it's going to hurt them tremendously.”
Broken Arrow, Oklahoma under pressure
In Broken Arrow, Oklahoma, Belden said the cost pressure is not just on his own books. “Middle of America is hurting,” he said, adding that the fuel burden lands as the wider economy stays near the center of the political debate less than three weeks before the midterm elections.
“The president has a lot to do with these fuel prices,” Belden said. “He's made some decisions that didn't go the way he thought they'd go, and now we're weeping the consequences of some of them decisions. And so I wouldn't say regret, but I'm glad we'll get someone new next time.”
