Planting season is on the horizon for farmers. With their equipment at the ready as weather gets better, there’s still one major concern.
Gas prices.
The prices of gas across Ontario have been on a near-constant incline in past weeks. Drivers have been reluctant to fill up their tanks, and public transit is seeming like a much better option for many.
Ontario farmers face a very different challenge.
Andrew Campbell is a farmer from London. He says gas prices impact every part of the farming process.
“Planting and harvesting are great examples of things that we use diesel for in our equipment,” Campbell explains. “As various farmers fill up their fuel tanks getting ready for spring, that’s going to be much more expensive to do than it was last year. Around our place, it’s probably at least double what it was two years ago.”
The increase in diesel prices, while still affordable, have more than an impact on the profits of farmers. Campbell says even with grain prices high, there’s still plenty of uncertainty in the long run.
“We’re filling up the fuel tanks now and grain prices are high right now,” Campbell says. “The big question is, are grain prices still going to be high come fall when we’re ready to sell them? Or is it a case of we’ve paid a lot more money for the fuel today and then the price falls.”
There’s still a long way to go until harvest. Gas and grain prices are always fluctuating. For Ontario farmers, the hope is the latter stays higher while gas begins to decline.
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