BROKEN ARROW, Okla. — Scott Belden was up not long after dawn Friday, feeding cattle on his Broken Arrow ranch before heading to one of his other farms to cut hay.
Belden operates across Wagoner County, Rogers County, and Muskogee County, running a cow-calf operation and a custom hay baling business. The fuel demands are significant.
KJRH
“We’ll consume roughly 90 to 100 gallons of fuel per day in our equipment and our vehicles,” Belden said.
On the way to cut hay, he stopped to fill up. He texted 2 News Oklahoma the total: $215.19 for just over 38 gallons of diesel — he paid $5.55 a gallon, using a discount app.
Just a few minutes later, 2 News Oklahoma saw diesel jumped to hit nearly 6 bucks a gallon.
That price shattered Thursday’s record high price of $5.67 a gallon.
Soaring diesel prices are putting a squeeze on farmers and ranchers already operating on tight margins — and making it difficult to decide whether to pass those costs along to customers.
“How you can pass that on to your customers is a very difficult task and because you know, you, know no one likes for you to change the price,” Belden said.
Patrick De Haan at GasBuddy points to the wars in Ukraine and Iran as key drivers behind the surge in diesel prices.
KJRH
“These two geopolitical tensions and their continued developments are curtailing supplies, and that is driving gasoline, but especially diesel higher,” De Haan said.
But he adds, the conflicts aren’t the only factor.
“There’s not enough diesel now being produced globally,” De Haan said.
He told 2 News Oklahoma U.S. refineries are operating at nearly 100% — the highest utilization rate in 27 years — and still can’t keep pace with demand.
“U.S. supplies are rather low,” De Haan said.
KJRH
It is a situation that leaves ranchers and farmers like Belden facing two tough choices: absorb the higher cost of fuel to keep operations running, or risk passing it on to customers who may not be willing to pay more.
This story was reported on-air by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.
