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Farmers take advantage of summer fuel prices

Lower diesel fuel prices are prompting more farmers to fill their tanks.

Troy Thompson with ProVantage Cooperative in Wisconsin says the price of diesel fuel is around two dollars per gallon lower than a year ago. “Right now, the prices are attractive so, compared to what we’ve seen, so people are keeping their tanks full and supply is okay right now.”

But Thompson says the supply did tighten during a Twin Cities refinery maintenance closure and, “The pulling of fuel from the strategic reserves is kind of coming to an end, so we’re kind of curious to see where this goes.”

Thompson says it would be wise to fill the farm tanks and arrange advance purchases now as prices might not stay where they are. “I think there’s more risk of potentially going up than down but again, a lot of it is going to depend on our economy and of course the R word, is there a recession because that will affect it as well. Our supplies overall are not deep, so that always concerns me.”

When it comes to propane, Thompson says 2023 looks like a more normal year for propane supplies and prices.

Troy Thompson with ProVision Partners Cooperative tells Brownfield the winter heating season, the war in Ukraine, and overseas industrial uses all play a part in fuel prices, leading to today’s favorable propane price. “Propane, butane, some of those chemicals used in manufacturing, the demand has seemed to soften a bit, and that’s why our propane prices right now have come down quite a bit.”

Thompson says the summer fill program is active and he says securing propane supplies for fall drying and winter heating is going well. “It looks like more of a normal year for propane pricing where it comes down like you’d like to see happen here in the summer when the demand comes down, we’d like to see that happen, and it’s happening, too, because the exports have not been going crazy either, so we’re getting some good builds here.”

Thompson says propane prices will likely stay lower into August, and suppliers often sell fuel now for delivery after the tank gets low and prices get high.