CAMBRIDGE, Md. — The price of diesel is the highest it has ever been, surging past $6 a gallon for the first time ever — and on Delmarva, that spike is hitting people who rely on the fuel to do their jobs.
According to AAA, the national average for diesel is sitting at $6.31 a gallon, up about 4 cents from Tuesday.
For Dorchester County farmer Wendell Meekins, who has been farming for about 30 years, the fuel is essential to his operation.
"Diesel fuel to a farmer is like lifeblood," Meekins said.
Every step of harvesting corn requires diesel — from the combine, to the grain cart pulled by a tractor trailer truck that hauls grain to the mill.
The jump in diesel prices comes on the heels of a low grain yield this summer due to dry weather, Meekins said.
"We're already dealing with bad yields because of dry weather, and now this is just a further cut into your profit, which is making it hard to come out ahead," Meekins said.
Meekins said his farm is now spending more than $2,000 a day on fuel. Running six days a week, that adds up to more than $12,000 a week just to harvest — this does not include money that may need to be spent on breakdowns or supplies.
"I have no choice," Meekins said. "You have to eat that cost. And really, the crop is in the field. It has to be harvested. The longer you wait, the less money you get, because the grain dries out and it'll kind of shed out."
Waiting also carries other risks, he said, including the chance a storm could knock the corn down before it's harvested — another potential loss on top of the fuel costs.
Meekins said prices have been so volatile he's telling his drivers to fill up every day in hopes of catching a lower price, but even that hasn't been enough to offset the swings.
“I think today my driver has seen it go from $6.15 in the morning, and when he got back an hour later, it's going up to $6.41 at the same place,” Meekins said. "You can't plan for this in your budget," Meekins said. "How can you plan for something to jump 35 cents in a day?"
It's a similar reality for watermen, who are coming off a summer with little market for crab — a problem watermen say only worsens after Labor Day.
Waterman Jay Bradshaw said that at the start of the summer, he was paying around $3.35 a gallon to fill up his boat. Now, he says it's $6.50.
"It's almost double to fill my boat up every day," Bradshaw said. "And it hurts everybody, because everybody's got to put fuel in whatever they — you know, their cars or trucks — and then they go to the store, and then they spend what they do at the store, and there's nothing left for crabs, luxuries — that's the first thing to go."
At this time last year the national average for diesel was $3.70. Last week the national average for diesel was $5.94.
