In Broken Arrow, Oklahoma, third-generation rancher Scott Belden is in the middle of harvest. And anxious.
“It’s probably the most stressful time in my life,” Belden, 55, said.
It’s not just the demanding time of year that has the lifelong rancher uneasy — the record-breaking cost of diesel is also putting additional pressure on him and his business.
“The inputs are out of control. The diesel prices are out of control, along with everything else. So we’re just in a very trying time. Very uncertain,” he said.
Oil prices have spiked since the start of the Iran war. The average price for a gallon of diesel was $6.32 on Thursday, according to AAA, and prices have increased by more than 65% since the war began back in February.
Belden says he wakes up at 3 a.m., worrying about how to make it all work with the crushing fuel costs hitting his bottom line. All his vehicles and equipment run on diesel, and during harvest, he burns 90 to 100 gallons of the fuel a day.
Belden’s ranch includes cattle and custom harvesting for hay — the latter he says is “absolutely unprofitable” with the costs of fuel.
“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,” he said.
“It don’t take no [mathematician] to figure out that it’s costing me $1,000 to $1,400 more a week,” he said.
“It’s a very trying time when you know, you don’t know when that’s going to end. You don’t know, and you can’t — you can’t always pass that on to your customers because you set the prices, and they’re all — they’re all struggling, too. You know everybody’s in this together,” he added.
With the midterm elections less than three weeks away, polling shows the economy and cost of living are a top concern for many voters.
A three-time Donald Trump voter, Belden believes Republicans will pay the price for the ongoing pain at the pump.
“Middle of America is hurting,” Belden warned. “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.”
While Belden stands by his vote for the president, he is glad Trump is term-limited.
“The president has a lot to do with these fuel prices,” he 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.”
Trump has said higher fuel prices are worth the cost of preventing Iran from building nuclear weapons and that they will come down quickly after the war is over, although he has over the last few weeks shifted the blame to Ukrainian attacks on Russian energy infrastructure in their ongoing war.
The president last week made a deal with Russian President Vladimir Putin to import 300,000 tons of its diesel fuel and promised that millions more are coming, though experts say that won’t do a lot to bring costs down.
Belden says he’s expecting prices to stay high, despite Trump’s promises.
“I believe everything goes up and comes down, but I’ve learned they go up real fast and come down real slow,” he said.
While he has absorbed the increased operating costs so far, he warned that it won’t be possible much longer.
“I think we’re all in trouble. If we don’t get control of this diesel fuel and get it — like right now — people, people are probably consuming the loss, like as myself, but that cannot continue. So if they don’t get control of the diesel fuel soon, we’re really going to see a spike.”
“We’re just going to have to pray that we make the right decisions and that our customers stick with us.”
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