Janel: Fuel prices are wrecking businesses
Holdrege, Nebraska – Schemper Harvesting just finished wheat harvest in northern North Dakota last week. We made the 700+ mile trip to Holdrege and have stayed busy preparing for fall harvest. We changed concaves and put duals on the combines. I cut two loads of soybeans and it’s just borderline ready. We then received some wet weather, and high humidity is in the forecast this week. We have eight combines here and two in western Kansas. The two picking wet corn in western Kansas have stayed busy this past week getting over the acres and yields have been good.
We’ve got soybeans and corn to harvest here but it’s a weather deal right now. Harvest might be slow this week. It’s September 21st so it’s early yet. The soybeans look high yielding and the corn looks good, too. I’m happy to be back in Nebraska and ready to get into fall crops. I love fall harvest and always look forward to it.
The war in Iran is driving up fuel prices. In economic news the fed’s raising interest rates, diesel’s hitting an alarming record high and oil is now over $100/barrel. Fuel, grease and oil are what I deal with daily so it’s very depressing. Drivers are paying the price. It costs more and more money to fuel up and there’s no clear end in sight right now. Fuel is $6.48/gallon here today and expected to be over $7/gallon. Gasoline is near $5/gallon, yet the traffic doesn’t seem any lighter. Fuel prices are soaring and we’re desperate for relief. The fuel price is wrecking businesses.
I hope everyone has a safe fall harvest. The drought conditions have continued down south and throughout the Midwest. Texas and Oklahoma haven’t had hardly any rain at all and triple digit temperatures for most all of late summer. Winter wheat planting takes place September-November typically, so rain is needed to help with the continued drought conditions. Best of luck and stay safe!
