A Lehigh County farmer recently called Kyle Kotzmoyer and said something like “I’ve got a tractor hooked up to my corn planter out here, no diesel fuel, and I can’t afford to get any.” Kotzmoyer, who recalled the conversation Tuesday, said he responded to the request for advice with a joke.
That’s about all he could do, he said, because the crushing reality of record diesel fuel prices is pushing farmers to the brink and may affect food availability. “We have reached that point to where it is very close to being a sinking ship,” Kotzmoyer, a legislative affairs specialist for the Pennsylvania Farm Bureau, testified to state lawmakers Tuesday. “We are teetering on the edge right now.”
His appearance came in the third hearing on soaring inflation held by the House Republican Policy Committee. The overall testimony suggested the dire farm situation will exacerbate the rate of already steep food price increases. The federal government reported last week that food prices in May were 10.1% higher than a year earlier, with the rate of increase gaining speed.
After the hearing — in a phone interview — Kotzmoyer made clear that food may not be as available because of the fuel price surge. “One, if they can’t afford to put it in the ground,” he said of farming using diesel-thirsty machinery. “Or, two, if they can’t afford to take it out.” Average diesel fuel prices Tuesday in Pennsylvania were $6.19 a gallon, about 75% higher than a year ago, according to AAA.
Kotzmoyer told lawmakers diesel is a “huge, huge expense” for farmers. One Cumberland County farmer, he said, works about 3,500 acres with several diesel-consuming tractors and burns though about 2,000 gallons of diesel per month. Farm operations do not have to pay sales taxes on diesel fuel purchases, giving them a minor break, he said. FULL REPORT
