GRIMES COUNTY, Texas (KRHD) — The cost of diesel fuel in the Brazos Valley has surged over the past year, and the agricultural community is feeling the weight of every gallon.
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According to AAA, the average cost of a gallon of diesel in the Brazos Valley was $3.28 a year ago. Today, that average has climbed to $4.42 — a spike that is hitting the agriculture industry hard.
Keith Gorsuch, a cattle rancher in Grimes County, said the industry was already operating on thin margins before prices rose.
"The ranching and farming industry already struggles on a day to day basis, you know, to make, to make a profit," Gorsuch said.
For producers, the impact goes far beyond filling up a tank. Nearly every piece of equipment on a farm or ranch depends on diesel to run.
"So much of our equipment runs off of diesel, whether it be a tractor, whether it be the trucks that we use oftentimes to pull our equipment with, because everything gets hauled is, is mostly is in a diesel vehicle. Let's just be honest about that," Gorsuch said.
Gorsuch said the costs that come with running an agricultural operation are not always visible to those outside the industry.
"I don't think the average person thinks, that's not in the industry, thinks about the, the cost of supplies and materials and, things that are needed, for the ranching and farming industry to, to be successful," Gorsuch said.
Those rising costs are not staying on the farm. Caleb Parker, a cattle rancher and dozer service operator, said consumers will ultimately bear the burden.
"Well, with the rising price of diesel, it's gonna make everything go up, you know, equipment costs and everything like that, so it's gonna be handed down to the consumer as far as pricing wise on all the work," Parker said.
For some producers, the pressure is already forcing difficult decisions about how they operate.
"You're gonna see where we're gonna have to start prioritizing what is the main thing that we do. We're gonna have to start looking at our day to day operations," Gorsuch said.
Producers say the food on our tables starts with a tank of fuel — and right now, that tank is heavier than ever.
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